


TEEN BEACH | B.C. + Y.JI.

by breadotaku



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Bikers, Alternate Universe - Surfers, Bang Chan is Whipped, Boy x boy, Day6 - Freeform, F/F, Fluff, GOT7 - Freeform, Gay, Humor, M/M, bxb - Freeform, changlix, cliche plot but whatever, crossposted on wattpad, i can never leave them out lmaO, it's stray kids-centered tho, jeongchan, jeongin is mega gay, jyp artists are mentioned, minsung - Freeform, more characters will be added later lol, seungjin - Freeform, skiz, skz - Freeform, straight kids who i only know str(gay) kids, the rest are background (but still important) ships!!, twice, twice got7 and day6 members make cameos, woojin is alone but happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2019-10-25 07:19:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 39,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17720642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breadotaku/pseuds/breadotaku
Summary: ❝ ...don't you hate me? ❞❝ well, why would i hate someone i just met? ❞➥ in a seaside town divided by bikers and surfers, a shylittle biker boy who dreams of the ocean falls in lovewith a surfer with an obsession with motorcycles.➥ A JEONGCHAN FIC.ft. CHANGLIX, MINSUNG, & SEUNGJIN.➥ lowercase intended.





	1. YANG JEONGIN, THE BIKERS, AND THE SURFERS

**Author's Note:**

> it is i, breadotaku from wattpad and asianfanfics, back at it again to post this on yet ANOTHER site. why? because i can. i hope you guys enjoy this as much as i enjoy writing it lol

**YANG JEONGIN** , age eighteen, was gay. very, _hopelessly_ , gay. and he had known this for quite a while now. but unfortunately, being a part of a tough biker gang meant that you had to keep up appearances, and that meant he couldn't tell this to _anyone_.

after he was born, jeongin's parents realized that they wouldn't be able to properly care for him as well as they should. so, they left him at an orphanage in hopes that he would be adopted by someone that would be good to him. someone who would be able to raise him right.

jeongin chuckled softly to himself. they would've been shocked if they found out that their baby boy had been adopted by a group of bikers that called themselves the "stray souls".

"i.n."

the voice of jeongin's friend, hwang hyunjin, a flirtatious boy with visuals that could put an angel's to shame, snapped him out of his thoughts. "hm?"

"we're heading out." hyunjin gestured to the two other boys beside him— lee minho and seo changbin, jeongin's other friends— looking nothing short of intimidating in their black leather jackets and ripped jeans. "gotta make sure that those surfer scum aren't trying to take over the jyp café, y'know?"

jeongin rolled his eyes. "are you sure you're not just gonna flirt with all the girls there?"

hyunjin simply winked in response before turning around to exit the large living room that they were in, the other two following suit. from his spot on their beat-up green couch, the eighteen-year-old could hear the sound of engines revving up with a mighty roar, and remained still until he couldn't hear them any longer. then, he sprinted to the garage.

for as long as he could remember, the bikers had hated the other half of the small seaside town's population: a large group of surfers that completely dominated the beach. he was never told why, and every time he tried to ask one of his friends about it, he never got a straight answer. (he was starting to suspect that they had no idea as well.) nevertheless, he just accepted hating the surfers as part of his lifestyle, even though deep down inside he knew that he could never really hate them. if anything, he envied them for the carefree life that they got to lead. they had no people forcing them to wear all black on a scorching summer day; no people telling them to "act tougher"; and no people who scorned them for their sexuality. that last point was a factor that jeongin often dwelled on. what would it be like to live in such an accepting environment?

it's not that he despised his life with the bikers, he thought to himself as he put on his helmet and readied his own motorcycle. on the contrary, he loved them a lot. they were all like one big family. a rough, tough, loud family who stuck up for each other no matter what. their leader had been the one to adopt jeongin as a young boy and treated him like a younger brother, constantly babying and teasing him, even as he got older. (she was the one who gave the gang what she deemed "cool" nicknames— jeongin and minho, for example, were given the names "i.n" and "lee know".) the entire brotherhood of bikers all loved to do so for some reason that jeongin couldn't fathom. although it got annoying at times, he couldn't deny that he wouldn't have them any other way. but still, that didn't stop him from yearning for a different life— one that he knew he wouldn't have. not in this universe, at least.

sighing, jeongin flipped up the kickstand on his matte-black harley before speeding away from the biker home and to the place he had been waiting to escape to the entire day. a place that called out to him no matter how much he tried to ignore it. a place filled with the people he was always told to avoid.

the sea.


	2. YANG JEONGIN, A BROKEN RULE, AND A MEETING WITH A BANG

**ONE OF**  the first rules that young jeongin was taught when he entered the household of the stray souls was to never go to the beach.

"why?" he remembered asking. he was answered by a young hyunjin, who (at the time) was a mere eleven years old, yet he already fit in with the rest of the bikers almost seamlessly. 

"it's because of those surfers," the handsome boy had chirped with a grin. "they're no good, so it's best that we stay far away from them! so that means  _no beach."_

of course, jeongin didn't listen. he was a young boy at the time who didn't understand how important this rule was. that is until he got caught trying to sneak back in the house after going to the beach in secret one night. he was dusting the sand off of his feet behind the house when one of the older kids, a boy that went by the name jackson, rounded the corner and saw him.

needless to say, the lecture he received by their leader afterward was enough to make him regret ever sneaking out.

but after seeing those sparkling blue waters for the first time in his entire life, jeongin couldn't just  _stop_ going. the sound of the waves lapping against the sand echoed in his mind day and night, driving him crazy. so, as he got older and more independent, he also became more careful. more sly. more sneaky. all because he was drawn to something that he was fated not to have.

 _if only i were adopted by surfers rather than bikers,_  he would think on some days, but he would immediately feel guilty about it. no matter how much he disagreed with them, they were still his friends. his brothers. his family. and he wouldn't trade them for the world.

the wind whipped through jeongin's dark locks as he sped off in the direction of the beach, careful to avoid any routes where he would potentially encounter other people. he couldn't risk it after what had happened the first— and hopefully last— time he had been caught. so, he sacrificed shortcuts for longer roads until he finally arrived at his destination.

"ah..." the boy smiled contentedly, his pale cheeks dimpling. parking his motorcycle behind a palm tree, jeongin removed his flame-streaked helmet and sank into the warm sand.  _it's been so long_. his last visit had been a little over a month ago because of how occupied he had been with the rest of the gang. there was never a free moment or an opportunity to leave them— either changbin needed help with grocery shopping (since he was too short to reach the top shelf) or minho would force him to do odd jobs (mostly finding a way to keep everyone else out of the house so that the boy could finally have some peace and quiet) or hyunjin was dragging the three of them out to go riding (a.k.a. his excuse to try and pick up chicks, which the rest of them were highly disinterested in— jeongin didn't have a clue as to why changbin and minho didn't want to participate in this activity, but whatever). so when the rest of the gang planned a huge group outing, jeongin pretended to be sick so that he could stay back and slip out when they left. his friends, ever so helpful, offered to stay back and care for him, but jeongin insisted that they go out and have some fun. so, as soon as they left, that was his chance to leave too.

jeongin had no idea how long he had been there, but when he noticed the sun beginning to set he snapped himself to attention before he could accidentally doze off.  _"crap!"_  he hissed, scrambling up and wiping the sand off the back of his jeans. he took his phone out of his pocket and checked the time.  _how the heck is it already six?_   _jaebum is going to kill me if he finds out i left the house!_ racing back to his motorcycle, jeongin hurriedly hopped on, not bothering to put on his helmet (because what was the point of safety if he might be dead soon anyway?). "c'mon, c'mon..." he muttered, giving a little "yes!" when his engine finally started up.  _nyoom nyoom! it's time to zoom!_  he thought as his motorcycle bolted forward down the road that would lead him home, the sky above him quickly darkening.

he had been driving for a solid nine seconds when he realized that he hadn't turned his lights on. coincidentally, right when he came to this realization, a voice suddenly materialized in the darkness in front of him: "oh shit!"

jeongin's eyes widened and he slammed his foot on his brake. fortunately, thanks to his lightning fast reflexes, he didn't accidentally run over whomever the owner of the mysterious voice was. unfortunately, his speedy momentum from nine seconds earlier caused him to fly off of his bike and into the stranger (thankfully breaking his fall— the other person wasn't so lucky). jeongin's motorcycle fell onto its side and skidded away from them with a high-pitched screech, finally stopping when it hit a nearby telephone pole.

it was silent for a few moments as the two of them tried to calm their racing hearts. jeongin broke the silence first, staring sadly at his bike. "i...just got that painted last week..." he spoke with a melancholy tone. tears began to fill his eyes.  _what will everyone say when they see this? what will they think? oh no..._  as much as jeongin tried to act tough like the other bikers, he was a true softie at heart. he loved colourful things, especially pastels, and would stare for just a bit too long whenever he passed a plushie store. he was also quite sensitive and empathetic, which was why it was so hard for him to hate the surfers. his friends all knew about these little quirks of his but never spoke about it, figuring that one day he would grow out of it. (they all knew that he probably wouldn't, though, but they were perfectly fine with that.)

jeongin whipped around to face the stranger, ready to give them a piece of his mind, but he couldn't because of the mixture of emotions bubbling up in his throat and because he was afraid his voice would crack (which was  _not_  what bikers should do, because they're too cool for voice cracks). so instead, jeongin just sat there (in front of what appeared to be a silver-haired boy? although he wasn't quite sure because of all of the tears blurring his vision) blubbering like a fish and trying his very best not to let his tears spill over. but it was hard not to when he noticed, in shock, the flower-printed shirt and teal board shorts that the person in front of him wore.

out of everyone in this town that he could've accidentally killed, it had to be a  _surfer_.


	3. BANG CHAN, A PROMISE, AND A SLEEPOVER

**WHEN BANG**  chan, age twenty-one, woke up in the morning, he felt very off. he didn't know why— it was a beautiful sunny day and the waves were high, perfect for surfing— so he shrugged it off and continued along with his day. but after spending an entire day with his friends at the beach (which generally would've cheered him up) still didn't erase the strange feeling, he began to get a bit worried.  _why do i feel like something terrible is going to happen?_  he thought as he toweled himself off at the end of the day, a frown on his face.

he found why when (not even ten minutes later) he was nearly run over by a motorcycle.

now, he lay (in pain, may he add) on the rough gravel, with some crying kid on top of him. to be frank, he didn't quite know what to do in this situation. on one hand, he was just a  _bit_  (okay, maybe a lot) annoyed that his life was almost ended prematurely. on the other hand, the kid who almost killed him seemed pretty shaken up and—

_wait._

_is this kid a_ **_biker?_ **

taking a closer look, chan found out that his suspicions were correct and he cursed himself for not noticing earlier the black leather jacket that the boy wore— a telltale symbol that someone was part of the "stray souls" biker gang— with the initials "i.n." printed on the back of it in white. it was a bit funny, though, how out of place he looked in his outfit. the boy had prominent dimples and clear braces, giving off a more adorable look than intimidating, and he was a good deal shorter than chan. plus, the jacket seemed a bit too big on him, and the sleeves almost covered his hands in a cute sweater-paw fashion.

 _hold on, channie_ , he mentally scolded himself,  _that doesn't mean anything. he's still a biker, which means that he's probably really tough. looks can be deceiving, after all_.  _just think about seungmin! he looks so sweet, but he can be a cold-blooded savage._

but before chan could open his mouth to say anything, the kid jumped up.

"i-i'm so sorry!" he choked out through his tears, and it was then that chan's heart melted at the sight of this poor boy who was the exact  _opposite_  of what a biker usually was. while any other member of the biker gang would probably yell profanities at chan for getting in their way (even though it was not his fault), this one  _apologized_.

to  _him_.

a  _surfer_.

now  _that_  was unheard of.

"a-ah! no, no, don't cry," chan said, snapping out of his surprise and hurriedly standing up. "hey, it's alright. don't worry about it, kid." he awkwardly patted the boy's head as tears continued to stream down his pale cheeks like infinitely flowing waterfalls.  _dang, is this kid seriously a biker?_  he thought to himself, pity evident on his face, as he decided to take the boy into his arms instead and wrap him into a hug.  _ah, yes, father chan is back at it again with comforting the younger kids._

the smaller boy eventually calmed down enough so that his sobs were reduced to hiccups, and with a small blush, he pulled himself away (which was a relief because chan's arms were starting to cramp up). the pair were silent for a while, much to the older boy's disliking since he had the inkling that he was making the biker uncomfortable.

"uh... so, your bike..."

he trailed off when the boy's eyes widened. whipping around, the dark-haired kid ran towards his now-ruined motorcycle, tears beginning to form in his eyes once more. "oh no! i can't believe i nearly forgot!" he cried in an agony-filled voice. he crouched down next to the vehicle which was covered in scratches and dents. "my baby! she's ruined!" and with that he started crying again, burying his face in his hands.

chan observed the bike, an analytical look on his face. although he was a surfer, he had a big secret: he had always yearned to feel what it was like to ride a motorcycle like the straysouls. he could just  _feel_  the wind whipping through his hair; the smell of exhaust fumes; the growl of an engine starting up. oh, how he wished he could be like them, riding away into the sunset without a care in the world!

but that was just a stupid dream.

a dream that, in this situation, would prove to be quite beneficial.

"um, excuse me? if you don't mind, i might be able to help you," chan spoke, walking over to stand at the boy's side.

almost immediately after he had said that the biker boy ceased his crying and turned to look up at him, and chan could  _swear_  that there were sparkles in his eyes. "r...really?"

chan nodded. "believe it or not, i'm quite knowledgeable about motorcycles. i have some experience with them as well." he left out the fact that his "experience" consisted solely of watching various videos online about the parts of a motorcycle— he never actually had one before. "if you want, i could take your bike back to my place and fix it up for you, since it was kind of my fault that it got wrecked."

a suspicious look instantly appeared on the other boy's face, and chan realized precisely what he had said. he, an absolute stranger, had just offered to take some random kid's motorcycle home with him with the promise that he would fix it up and return it even though a) he had no idea where the other lived and b) it was quite apparent that they were from two different worlds, and trespassing into the other could be dangerous for both of them. but then again, surfers were all about helping people, and who would chan be if he just ignored someone in need?

"ah! don't worry, you can trust me," he said. "in fact, you can even come over to my house so that you won't be leaving your bike!"  _crap! chan, that sounded even_ ** _shadier_** _!_  he thought when the boy's suspicious look only deepened.  _um... uh..._  he scrambled for the right words to say when an idea popped into his head. "i know! how about you bring some of your friends over so that, you know, you won't be alone in a stranger's house, and we can have a big sleepover while i fix your motorcycle! i mean, it's getting pretty late, and it's probably best that i take it tonight so that it'll be done sooner..."

chan could see the gears turning in the boy's head, and he gave an internal cheer when his suspicious look faded into one of contemplation. "...are you sure it's alright for me to bring a friend? i don't wanna be rude... my friends are a bit.... _interesting..._ "

chan laughed. "oh, trust me, i know what it's like to have interesting friends."

this seemed to relax the biker boy, and he withdrew his (surprisingly unharmed, save for a few cracks here and there) phone from his jacket pocket. "i'll be right back. i have to give them a call." chan nodded as the boy stepped away from him to a nearby tree, pressing on his keypad and bringing the phone to his ear. he suddenly jerked his head away from the phone, a look of annoyance on his face, and he yelled, "shut up! the whole dang neighborhood can hear you all with the way you're shouting into the speaker!" then it was quiet for a few moments before the boy started speaking again, but this time in a more hushed voice.

chan chuckled a bit. these so-called "interesting" friends were beginning to remind him of a mate of his own, a surfer named han jisung: a loud, obnoxious, hyperactive kid who always seemed to be on a sugar high and almost never had an off switch.

while he was reminiscing an old memory of jisung setting fire to a porta-potty, the other boy had approached him and tapped him on the shoulder. when chan turned, a small smile was on the kid's face, making his dimples shine in the moonlight. "okay, you have a deal," he said, sticking out a hand to shake, which chan took. "my friend will come over later, as soon as i get the address. thank you so much!"

chan grinned. "it's no problem." he paused, remembering something important. "i nearly forgot! i never got your name."

the biker boy looked surprised for a split second before laughing sheepishly. "ah, i guess with everything that happened, we both forgot about it. my name is yang jeongin."

"well, yang jeongin, my name is bang chan. now let's get going, shall we?"


	4. YANG JEONGIN, THE SURFERS, AND ACCEPTANCE

**IT WAS**  a bit difficult for chan and jeongin to transport the damaged motorcycle back to the elder's house, but with some struggle, they had finally arrived at his seaside home. gazing out onto the water's edge, jeongin was a bit jealous of chan. he got to wake up every morning to the sight of the sea, its waves glittering like a treasure that jeongin couldn't reach. he sighed, a melancholy feeling filling his heart and weighing it down like an anchor. 

the house itself was old but rather big, its pale yellow walls seeming to stretch into the sky like the palm trees that surrounded it. the paint was chipped and the wood was weathered down, but instead of giving off a rickety vibe, it gave off a more homey one. it was a bit odd, though, as chan had mentioned on their walk there that he lived alone—  _so why would he need so much space?_  jeongin never knew the concept of space since the rest of his gang constantly surrounded him, so the feeling of having more than enough space was foreign to him. but rather than it being annoying, it was somewhat comforting for him to be surrounded by people (even if it did get kind of cramped in the house at times) since he knew that they loved him, even if they had unique ways of showing it.

"here we are!" the elder exclaimed when he had unlocked his door, throwing it open with a grand flourish... only to get a pillow slammed in his face.

"chan's home!  _attack!"_  a voice cried from within the large house, and jeongin watched in shock as the older boy was violently yanked through the doorway, the door shutting with such force that the frame rattled. a flurry of screams and crashes were heard, and while jeongin would've customarily rushed inside to see if anyone was hurt, he instead stood stock-still on the porch, dumbfounded.  _there... shouldn't be anyone here... right?_  he thought confusedly as the noises quieted down— but only for a moment, for a voice began to shout a series of expletives that any biker would've been proud to hear. 

jeongin stood outside awkwardly for a bit, contemplating the pros and cons of ditching his bike and just booking it from this crazy house when the door whipped open again, chan greeting him with an overly angelic smile on his face.

"i apologize for that, jeongin. come on in," he said, opening the door a bit wider for the smaller boy to enter, albeit hesitantly.

taking off his black sneakers, the first thing jeongin noticed was how incredibly spacious it was. they were standing in a large living room, a soft blue carpet beneath their feet that the boy immediately sank his feet into, reveling in its fluffiness. a tv sat on a brown table against the wall, and next to that stood a skinny shelf overflowing with discs, presumably with movies on them. an entryway led to a kitchen that seemed relatively small in comparison to the living room, its flooring being brown tiles rather than carpet. jeongin could see an assortment of fruits strewn across the countertop and tried to ignore the low grumbling in his stomach.

he glanced at a staircase led to a second floor, but before he could look any further, a series of whispers distracted him.

"who's that kid with channie?"

"oh my god, he's such a lil' bean!"

"do you think he'd let me poke his dimples?"

"nobody would want your sweaty hands on them, jisung."

"ugh! seungmin, you're so mean sometimes!"

 _don't they know that i can hear them?_  jeongin thought as he turned his head to see three people crammed together on a white couch in the living room, smiling widely at him.

chan stepped forward and jeongin jumped slightly. he had been so wrapped up in observing his surroundings that he had forgotten about the presence beside him! "jeongin, these are my...friends," he said, grimacing at the word "friends".

"hey! why'd you make a face when you said that?" one of the people on the couch yelled in mock anger, jumping up and pointing an accusatory finger at chan. jeongin thought he kind of looked like a squirrel. the boy grabbed a small striped pillow off of the couch and ran towards chan, holding it up like a weapon. "prepare to atone for your sins, you fake friend!"

chan sighed. "take one more step, jisung, and minho's photos get flamed."

_wait, minho?_

that made squirrel boy— or rather, jisung— freeze in his tracks. "you wouldn't dare," he whispered, to which the silver-haired boy next to jeongin replied with a, "try me." 

jisung slinked back to the couch with a pout on his face, the other two boys laughing at his antics. chan rubbed his face tiredly and faced jeongin, who was confused as to whether he should laugh or feel bad for this "jisung". "i'm so sorry about them, jeongin," the older boy said. "i didn't know that they'd be here. apparently, they wanted to hold a surprise sleepover at my house, but without letting me know that i'd be the host." he glared at them, but the only things he got in return were three grins. "anyway,  _as i was saying_ , these are my friends: the annoying and obnoxious one is han jisung—"

"hey now, that was uncalled for!" squirrel boy cried, a look of utter betrayal on his face.

"— the sunshine with freckles is lee felix—"

"nice to meet you, mate!" felix said, beaming, and jeongin understood what chan meant by "sunshine". his smile was radiant like the rays of the sun, making the biker feel less awkward and more relaxed.

"wait, he gets to be called sunshine while  _i_  get labeled as annoying? that hardly seems fair!" jisung interjected again, much to felix and the other boy's amusement.

" _will you guys quit interrupting me?_  anyway, the last one is kim seungmin, who is usually pretty nice but can also be a cold-blooded savage."

"i'm flattered," seungmin said with a small smirk. jeongin was suddenly scared of him.

there was a moment of silence, and that was when jeongin realized that they were all staring at him expectantly. 

"oh! um, sorry. my name is yang jeongin. i'm eighteen and i'm...a biker..." his voice got quieter at the end and he suddenly felt self-conscious; here he was, a biker in a surfer's house, surrounded by people who were from a completely different world from him— one that he wasn't supposed to enter.  _why did i think this was a good idea in the first place?_  he thought embarrassedly. he could feel his face heating up and his body tensed, waiting for a negative reaction from the people in front of him.

but to his surprise, that's not what he got.

"yeah, i kind of figured that out when you first entered," felix laughed, which was a shock to jeongin. a laugh was  _not_  what he was expecting. maybe some looks of distaste or scornful words, but most definitely  _not_  this. "your clothes completely gave it away. but don't worry, dude, it's cool."

seungmin nodded in agreement while jisung piped in, saying, "anyone who has great fashion sense is all good in my book!"

chan clapped his hand onto jeongin's shoulder which made the smaller boy jump slightly, but he soon relaxed into the older's touch. "and anyone, regardless of who— or what— they are, are welcome in my house," he said, a comforting expression on his face.

jeongin was speechless for a few moments. "...don't you hate me?" he asked. "i'm a biker and you guys are all surfers. i always thought that we all despised each other. i thought that was how it was supposed to be. how it's always been."

now it was chan's turn to give jeongin a surprised look, but a warm smile soon took its place. "well," he said with a small chuckle, "that's just silly. why would i hate someone i just met?"

and yet again jeongin had no words, choosing instead to wrap his arms around chan in a big hug— one in which the three boys on the couch gleefully joined in on as well.

_thank you._


	5. YANG JEONGIN, A SURPRISE, AND BUDDING FRIENDSHIPS [PT. 1]

**JEONGIN, FELIX,**  seungmin, and jisung were all gathered on the fluffy carpet playing monopoly when there was a knock at the door.

chan had left them a while ago, entering what he ecstatically referred to as "chan's kitchen" in an overly high-pitched voice to prepare dinner for everyone. that left the other four boys with nothing to do until seungmin suggested that they play a board game to pass the time. this led to felix and jisung shouting  _"no hecking way"_  at him while jeongin sat there, confused as to why they didn't want to play anything.

"it's because this guy is an absolute  _god_  at board games," jisung answered when the biker questioned, pointing at seungmin, who was sitting there feigning innocence. "don't let him fool you. that pure face hides nothing but  _evil_. _"_

"evil? i can't believe you, jisung," seungmin said with a sad expression. "how could you say that to one of your best friends? anyway, i think that our guest should decide." he faced jeongin. "what do you say, jeongin? shouldn't we play a game?"

jeongin shrugged. "i don't see why not," he said.

thirty minutes later, he understood why felix and jisung hated playing with seungmin when he had somehow bought half the board and drove them all to near bankruptcy.

"how is this even possible?" felix cried in agony while jisung held the dice in his hands, praying fervently to any god out there to let him roll a perfect twelve so that he could bypass seungmin's multiple properties, all with hotels on them. taking a deep breath, he let the two blocks fall, and everyone watched in anticipation to see if lady luck was on his side.

she wasn't.

 _"an eleven?"_  jisung screeched, and the whole room was filled with hoots and laughter at his misfortune. they were so loud that jeongin nearly missed the quiet knocks on the door and the buzz of his phone on the ground.

"hold on you guys, my friend is here," jeongin managed to gasp out in between laughs, and he quickly went to the door. he had invited hyunjin to sleep over at chan's house with him mostly because he was livelier than minho and changbin (though he had nothing against the calmer, quieter personalities of his other friends). the main problem was that he never actually  _told_  hyunjin that chan was a surfer or that chan was even in the picture at all. in actuality he had lied to him, saying that he was sleeping over at his friend kim woojin's place and pleaded with hyunjin to accompany him so that he wouldn't be alone. it wasn't hard to convince him since jeongin was the baby of stray souls and everybody loved him to pieces. it might be a bit harder to convince him to trust the surfers, though, but jeongin figured that he would find a way to reason with him. after all, the only people that had to know about this were him and hyunjin.

so when he opened the door, he was shocked to find not one but  _three_  faces staring back at him.

"w...what are  _you_  two doing here?" he whispered, staring wide-eyed at changbin and minho. "i thought that only hyunjin was coming..."

"yeah, well, hyunjin told us that he was going to woojin's place and minho and i wanted to get some free chicken, so here we are," changbin responded with a shrug. "you know how good his chicken is, and i haven't seen him in a while. i didn't know he lived so close to the beach."

a sick feeling began to form in jeongin's stomach. "um... well, you see..." he chuckled nervously and proceeded to tell them about everything that happened, minus the part that he snuck out to go to the beach. he decided that that conversation could wait until another day.

after he was done, the once stoic expressions of his friends melted into ones of absolute horror. "so let me get this straight," minho said lowly. "we are at a  _surfer's_  house that is  _filled_  with their kind, all because you decided that going out for a drive while you were  _sick_  would be a _good idea?"_

"...well, yeah, but—"

"that's it." minho grabbed jeongin's wrist and tugged him in the direction of the trio's motorcycles that were parked in front of the house. "we're going home right now."

"what? no!" the younger boy yanked his arm free from minho's grip. "they're not that bad, i swear! they're all super nice! plus, chan is gonna fix my bike for  _free_ , and you know how much money that would save us all."

changbin stepped forward. "jeongin, we have rules for a reason," he said, "and you know that  _you-know-who_  would have our heads if she found out that we were hanging with  _them_."

"then she doesn't have to know." jeongin couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. "we can just let this be our secret! please, you guys. can't you just give them a chance?" he put on the best puppy eyes that he could muster, hoping to at least change one of their minds.

"no." jeongin's pout only grew at minho's answer. "come on. we're all going home."

changbin began to follow minho to the bikes, and jeongin began to feel that all hope was lost. he didn't know why exactly he wanted to stay with the surfers— maybe it was because he would get a free repair, maybe it was because he liked their company— but something in his heart tugged him towards them. even though they just met, jeongin felt a connection with the four boys he had encountered today. they were all so welcoming and kind to him, and proudly displayed all of their quirks without any fear. maybe that's why jeongin was so drawn to them: he wanted to be like them. but now his dream was crushed.

or was it?

"hey." the voice of a previously silent hyunjin rang out through the group of bikers as clear as a bell, causing minho and changbin to stop walking and face him. "what kind of brothers are you guys, making our little jeonginnie sad? i don't see any harm in spending just one night in a surfer's house if it's gonna make him happy."

minho visibly hesitated, and jeongin took that chance. "yeah, he's right. it'll only be one night. i promise. please, minho?"

he could see the gears turning in minho's head as he internally thanked god for hwang hyunjin's existence. as long as he had one of them by his side, he knew that the other two weren't going to be far behind. hyunjin was usually the easiest to convince since he and jeongin were usually attached at the hip, changbin typically did whatever hyunjin wanted to do because he had a protective nature over the younger, and minho was like a dad to them all, so— as he put it— he was basically obliged to go with them wherever they went.

next to minho, changbin yawned and walked back up the porch steps. "honestly, at this point, i'm not really up for a night drive and i just wanna eat, so i'm gonna stay here with hyunjin. oh, and jeongin too."

_that's just a lame excuse to make sure nobody in the house tries to hit on hyunjin, but okay._

minho was quiet, apparently still thinking, so jeongin tried one more time. "please, minnie," he pleaded, putting on the most adorable face he could muster, feeling his pride begin to crumble but achieving a sense of victory when he saw the stone-like gaze of the older boy melt into one of relenting.

"...we never speak of this. ever."

"yes! of course!" jeongin quickly agreed, and beamed when minho sighed exasperatedly and walked up the stairs to join the other three boys. "they're all great people. you'll see." he cheered and gave the stoic boy a gigantic hug. "you're not gonna regret this, i swear!"

then he opened the door just in time to see jisung holding a minecraft sword to a struggling felix's throat, seungmin observing the entire thing with a bible in one hand and a wooden cross in the other.

"...i'm already regretting my decision to go along with you guys."


	6. YANG JEONGIN, A SURPRISE, AND BUDDING FRIENDSHIPS [PT. 2]

**AFTER THAT** odd first meeting, jeongin quickly introduced felix, seungmin, and jisung to changbin, hyunjin, and jisung. for some reason, jisung did a double-take when jeongin entered the room with his friends and began to hyperventilate, his face turning as red as a tomato. the young biker was confused, to say the least.  _is he worried about them since they're bikers? they were fine with me, though... i wonder what's wrong with him?_  sadly, jeongin never noticed that jisung wasn't freaking out because of  _all_  of his friends— instead, one  _specific_  friend in particular.

an awkward silence filled the room once they were finished. it was clear that minho was reasonably comfortable in the quiet atmosphere, even if it  _was_  a bit suffocating, pulling out a small book from inside his jacket and sitting on the couch. hyunjin went on his phone, probably to text some random girl; changbin had his "i'm-a-strong-intimidating-guy" face on, presumably to try and strike fear into the hearts of the surfers to assert his dominance; felix was staring at changbin with such intensity that it was a bit unnerving; jisung had calmed down but his face still glowed pink; and seungmin just looked bored.

"i'm bored," he declared, just as jeongin suspected. "let's play a game."

hyunjin, laying down in the carpet, shrugged. "whatever. it better be a good one, though."

felix suddenly snapped out of his daze and jumped up. "yeah! a game sounds great!" he grabbed jeongin's arm and yanked him to the stairwell that led to the second floor. "come on, jeongin, let's find something to play!"

the pair sprinted up the stairs, giggling like children and halting when they were in front of a tall closet that had a piece of paper stuck to it labeled "games". "is the sign glued to the door or...?" jeongin asked when he noticed there was no tape on it.

felix laughed in response, opening the closet to reveal stacks upon stacks of board games. "oh, no. chan doesn't have anything practical like glue. he's pretty useless like that. so, i used toothpaste to stick it on."

"...ah. i see." jeongin's eyes scoured over what seemed like thousands of games, from life to clue to sorry, when finally his gaze stopped on what, to him, seemed to be the perfect game. "this one!" he squealed, pulling it from where it was wedged in between battleship and candy land. "this one is gonna make everyone become friends for sure!"

felix looked skeptical at this. "uh, jeongin," he asked, "have you ever played this before?"

"nope!" jeongin answered cheerfully.

"are you sure you wanna play  _this_  game?"

"yup!"

"...alright then."

 

 

 

in chan's kitchen, the silver-haired boy had headphones on, quietly singing along to the song he was listening to as he stirred the generous amount of pasta he was making for dinner. "weather feeling hot or cold..." he did a little dance and shook the spoon he was holding in his hand. "stray kids going—  _ouch!"_  he yelped when hot water was flicked onto his hand. "cursed water. you're lucky that i need you to boil noodles, or else i'd dump you down the drain as punishment for your crime."

chan would've continued scolding the water and looking like a weirdo if it wasn't for somebody screaming in the living room. typically he would've ignored it since he couldn't care less if one of his friends were in danger (a great friend, right?), but this scream did not match the voices of any of his other friends' in his mental scream database (made solely because his comrades never shut up).  _somebody might actually be in trouble!_  he thought, dropping the spoon and racing to the doorway of the kitchen in his hello kitty apron.

"is everyone oka—  _what the hell?"_

the scene before him was utter chaos. jisung was beating jeongin with a stuffed pokémon toy; a stranger wearing a leather jacket was sitting on the couch looking royally pissed off; another stranger wearing a plastic crown was throwing fake money everywhere; felix was dying of laughter while clinging to the arm of a short boy— a third stranger, chan realized, wondering why his house was suddenly filled with so many random people— who was pointing at seungmin dramatically, the brunette with a smug smirk on his face. uno cards were strewn all over the ground around them.

 _who the heck thought it would be a good idea to play the game that destroys friendships?_  chan thought as the short boy yelled,  _"GOD DAMN IT, KIM SEUNGMIN!"_  then chan turned right back around, returning to the kitchen because he frankly didn't give a damn about his troublesome friends anymore.

 

 

 

out in the living room, jeongin was simultaneously having the best and the worst time of his life. the worst because he was losing horribly in the game he had chosen, uno (since he had no idea what was going on or what any of his cards meant); the best because seungmin had just pulled off the most epic move in the history of moves, which caused— well, you'll see.

it all started when changbin tried to send a plus four jisung's way. "ha! take that, beach boy," he shouted, slapping the card down on top of the pile. his jaw dropped, though, when jisung threw his own plus four down with a comical grin.

"you  _thought,"_  he said proudly, sending an evil look towards hyunjin who was beside him.

"no u." the biker stacked  _another_  plus four down, and it was then that the panic began to set in for poor little jeongin who didn't have a plus four and would have to pick up  _twelve_  cards.  _i might as well just forfeit now,_  he thought in despair.

minho saw this and swooped in to save his child. he had his own plus four card that he'd been saving the entire game thus far, and taking a quick glance at felix's hand (the aussie was doing a poor job at hiding his deck) he saw that the freckled boy had two plus fours of his own. so, doing what any kind, caring gang member would do for one of their own, he decided to do something about that fact.

"oh my  _god! wow!"_  he cried (internally wincing at how loud he was but brushing it off because it was all for his little boy) just as jeongin was about to begin picking up cards from the deck, pointing at the wall behind felix. just as he guessed, the fool quickly turned around, going, "what? what?" minho took that chance to swipe the card straight out of his hand and slid it into the confused jeongin's deck.

"...o-oh! well, it looks like i have a plus-four now... guess i didn't see it earlier!" the young boy said, shooting a grateful look towards his friend who placed his own card on top of jeongin's.

felix turned back around. "huh? oh, cool. i guess that means minho's gotta pick up sixteen cards!" he slapped the older boy's shoulder, much to the biker's annoyance, and laughed. "sucks to suck, dude."

"for your information, i just went. it's  _your_  turn now."

felix blinked. "oh! well sucks to suck again, since i have  _two_  plus four cards up my sleeve— wait, i could've sworn i had two..." he mumbled, setting down the card that minho didn't take. jeongin struggled to keep his giggles hidden, covering his mouth with his leather sleeve. "damn, seungmin, i'd love to say i feel sorry for you right now, but i don't."

at this point, the cards were stacked so much that seungmin would have to pick up twenty-four cards, which is basically suicide in the uno world. coming back from that major loss would be impossible.

"oh, man!" changbin cackled. "i only meant to sabotage jisung, but this? this is glorious! magnificent!  _beautiful!"_  he clapped his hands excitedly. "go on, seungmin. accept your sad, pitiful fate."

seungmin shrugged. "alright. i will." then he slowly reached down to the deck of cards...

...only to smirk and whip a plus four out of his hand and slam it on the top of the pile.

"sike, bitch."

the whole room melted into chaos after that. changbin was screaming profanities and declaring his hatred for the dandy boy, felix was hanging off of his arm and laughing so hard he was crying, hyunjin was throwing money everywhere (jeongin knew for a fact that his friend had blown all of his savings on hair gel, so where'd all those dollars come from?), minho was covering his ears and looking pretty pissed off (probably because, as hyunjin often said, he couldn't stand any noises above whisper-level), and jisung had found a stuffed munchlax and was running around attacking everyone with it (but choosing to swerve right before he hit minho). everyone was yelling and jumping around and all of their cards were mixed up and everything was just loud and crazy, but it was  _fun_. a pure, unfiltered mess. and they all loved it.

needless to say, jeongin felt like he had chosen the right game to bring them all together.


	7. YANG JEONGIN, THE TITANIC, AND THE BOY WHO NEVER SLEEPS

**"HIGH SCHOOL**  musical! it's the best!"

"no,  _shrek_  is the masterpiece of the century."

"what are you idiots on about? the _bee movie_ is where it's at!"

jeongin smiled at their bickering. after their disastrous uno game, chan came out of the kitchen with a big dish of pasta in his hands and told them all to take a shower because they "smelled like sweaty pigs" and he didn't want that in his household. jisung immediately called dibs on showering first and sprinted upstairs, yelling, "thanks for letting me borrow your clothes, channie!" to which the elder responded with, "wait, what? i didn't— get back here!"

it was then that hyunjin suggested that they play a movie. this led to a huge argument since nobody could agree on which film would be best.

"let's watch _saw,_ " suggested changbin.

"nah, we can't. felix gets scared easily."

"s-shut up, seungmin!"

 _hmm..._ as their banter continued, jeongin leafed through the cd rack, picking up a few that seemed interesting and turning them over to read their descriptions. there was a movie about a princess that falls asleep, a movie about a wizard kid with a lightning bolt scar, a movie about a moving castle... jeongin particularly liked that last one since it was an anime and he always loved watching that sort of thing. he almost suggested it to the group when one movie caught his eye.

"guys... what's  _titanic?"_

everyone in the room stopped their squabbling and paused for a moment. "...i'm not sure," hyunjin said quite thoughtfully. "i've never seen the film."

a chorus of  _yeah_ s and  _me neither_ s erupted around the room, stopping at minho, who had been sitting quietly on the couch the entire time.

"oh, i've watched it before," he said with more interest than he had the entire night.

"really?" changbin asked. "is it any good?"

minho nodded. "oh, yes. you all will enjoy it, i'm sure. it's a...comedy."

jisung chose that moment to come bounding down the stairs. "ooh, are we gonna watch a movie?"

"yup!" jeongin chirped. "we're watching  _titanic!"_

jisung scrunched his nose. " _titanic?_ that sounds pretty bo—"

"minho recommended it."

"—mb! lit! fantastic! love the film choice." he chuckled nervously, sliding onto the couch next to minho (who subtly tried to scoot away). "let's get this show on the road!"

so, after everyone was showered and dishes were laid out to begin eating, everyone gathered around the tv and played the film, expecting the greatest comedy of the century.

what the got instead was the biggest  _heartbreak_  of the century.

 

 

 

"m...minho!! you lied to us!" felix bawled at the end of the movie. tissues were scattered all around the floor around him as he clung to an annoyed changbin who attempted to shake him off.

"yeah, minho! i can't  _believe_  you!" jisung chimed in, his own eyes red and puffy from crying too hard. he blew his nose loudly before sobbing once more.

jeongin sniffled a bit, trying to rub his tears away. looking around, there was not a single dry eye in the house, save for minho and changbin. jeongin had never seen the shorter boy cry in all the years he knew him. but still, how  _couldn't_  you cry after watching that? he must be inhuman!

"chan, wasn't that sad—" jeongin cut himself off when he noticed that the older boy was no longer next to him. chan has sat beside him earlier when they had started the movie, but now he seemed to be missing.  _was he not having fun?_  jeongin wondered, something tugging at his heart ever so slightly. tapping seungmin on the shoulder, jeongin asked where the silver-haired boy was.

"i think i saw him going into the garage," seungmin responded, wiping a stray tear. "he's probably out there fixing your bike."

when jeongin went outside, he found that seungmin was correct: chan was hard at work repairing and polishing the bike. he sang while he worked, a sound that jeongin knew he would never forget in his entire life.

"— i fell right through the cracks... and now i'm trying to get back!" chan stood up dramatically and shut his eyes as he sang, and opened them to find a shocked jeongin standing at the doorway. "w-woah! sorry kid, you scared me there!" chan quickly ducked back down behind the bike, but he wasn't fast enough to hide his cherry red face from the other boy. "do you, uh, need something?"

jeongin froze. why  _did_  he come out here? he didn't have any reasons, no needs or requests. he had no idea why he was standing out here in the cold in just black shorts and a large t-shirt he sheepishly borrowed from chan. he didn't have any idea what to do or say... that is, until he spotted the clock in the corner.

"chan, it's eleven 'o clock. why are you out here working? you should be getting some rest."

_nice save, jeongin._

chan paused. "well, don't you wanna be out of here as soon as possible? the longer i work on your bike, the sooner you'll be able to go."

_oops. forgot about that._

"well, yeah," jeongin stuttered, "b-but that doesn't mean you have to stay up till midnight working on it! it's fine if it's not done by tomorrow or even the day after that. i just want you to sleep."

chan grinned. "thank you jeongin. but it's fine. i don't need a lot of rest to get me through the day. trust me."

jeongin had no idea how to come back to that without sounding like a whiny baby, so he instead settled on pulling out the signature pout that he used on his friends and slumped down against the door. "fine then. if you don't sleep, then i won't, either."

the older boy stared at jeongin for quite a while and the biker was almost  _sure_  he would relent but was rejected when chan pulled his gaze away and chuckled.

"alright. suit yourself."

as time wore on, jeongin could feel himself getting sleepier and sleepier. his eyes fought to stay open and he struggled to remain conscious.  _maybe just closing them for a second won't hurt_ , he thought, finally giving in— and it was at that moment that he fell asleep, snoring quietly against the door. 

 

 

 

it was silent for a long time, which was unusual since jeongin had been trying to keep himself awake by talking nonstop (which was quite adorable, really). "jeongin?" chan whispered. peeking out from behind the motorcycle, he smiled softly at the sight of the younger boy out like a light against the door. looking at his work and at the time, which read that it was nearing one in the morning, chan made the executive decision that it would be okay to finish the bike later— he was almost done, after all. stretching, he stood up and dusted off his clothes and approached the sleeping biker before him, contemplating what he should do.  _should i carry him? will he wake up? should i just wake him?_  but after seeing jeongin sleeping ever so peacefully, chan chose the first option. he was surprised at how light jeongin was, his smaller frame fitting perfectly in the surfer's arms. he quietly entered the house and found a majority of his guests knocked out in the living room, so he stepped over them and went upstairs to his room. he gently lay jeongin on the large bed and drew the covers up over him, nice and snug.

staring down for a moment, chan never knew that it was possible for anyone to look so angelic as they slept. he wished that all bikers were like jeongin: soft, caring, and unafraid to break boundaries. suddenly feeling like a creep for watching someone as they slept, chan quickly left the room and quietly shut the door, but not before giving jeongin a small pat on the head and a smile, even though he couldn't see it.

"good night, jeongin," he murmured as he left, wondering what exciting things the biker boy would bring into his life the next day.


	8. HWANG HYUNJIN, A FILLER, AND AN EVENTFUL MORNING

**HWANG HYUNJIN,**  age nineteen, woke up in a strange house on a strange floor next to a stranger. at first, he was perplexed— and, although he would never admit it, slightly scared—  _especially_  when he felt someone's arm laying across his (thankfully clothed) chest.  _what the hell?_  he thought.  _i don't remember going to a girls' place last night!_ but when he saw that the owner of the arm was, in fact, a  _male_  and not some chick, he remembered everything: showing up at some surfer's house thinking it was woojin's; playing cards and laughing when changbin got utterly  _demolished;_  eating spaghetti and dropping it all over the couch; then, finally, watching some movie that he couldn't remember the title of, but he just knew that it was really freaking  _sad_. 

glancing over at the sleeping body next to him, hyunjin made a face of distaste. he was next to a surfer, not one of his biker buddies. he was about to push him away when he saw the look on his face. it was one of absolute peace and serenity, basically screaming "pure".

 _wait, isn't this the same kid who wrecked changbin last night?_  he thought confusedly.  _how can such a savage person be capable of looking so...innocent? is that even possible?_  he studied the boy's features for a few moments, noting the natural smoothness of his golden skin and his thin pink lips. his chocolate-brown hair was tousled cutely, a style that hyunjin felt suited the boy. as he continued to stare at him, he couldn't help but let out a low whistle. the boy was  _hot._

 _i've never gone for a guy before,_  hyunjin thought,  _but who said i was afraid of trying new things?_

it was at that moment that the boy's eyes gently fluttered open and hyunjin was caught staring at him. they locked eyes— black on brown— and it was silent for a few seconds until the boy scrunched up his nose.  _cute._

"what're you looking at?" he asked, withdrawing his arm from the other's body.

"simply admiring the artwork," hyunjin responded, which caused the boy lying next to him to make a face.

"gross."

"oh, you're right. all artwork is gross when compared to your beauty."

the boy frowned. "what the heck? why're you saying stuff like that?"

"it's the truth, darling." smirking, hyunjin took a strand of the surfer's hair between his fingers and twirled it around. "now, this isn't really the place, so why don't we hop on my motorcycle and we can—"

a pillow suddenly smacked him in the face, interrupting his speech.  _"hwang hyunjin!_  can't you go  _one day_  without trying to pick up someone?"

hyunjin groaned, recognizing changbin's voice.  _why do my friends have to be such buzzkills?_  "ugh, binnie, you're no fun," he whined, flopping onto his back. "i was just trying to make a new friend!"

"'make a new friend' my ass," the shorter replied bluntly before turning to the weirded out surfer boy. "sorry about that. hyunjin doesn't know how to keep it in his pants."

"stop that! now you're making me sound like a creep!"

"you  _are_  a creep!"

"i am  _not!"_

"would it kill either of you to  _shut up?"_  came the irritated voice of minho, who had been rudely awoken by their bickering. " _some_ of us are trying to sleep!"

"well, you're clearly not, or else you'd still be sleeping—"

"hwang hyunjin, i'm going to murder you," minho seethed, and hyunjin immediately shut up.

"...you guys are really freaking weird," the surfer kid said before lying back down and pulling out his phone.

hyunjin snorted. "sweetheart, i can guarantee you that your friends are  _much_  stranger than mine."

the surfer frowned. "don't call me that. my name is seungmin. and yeah, actually, you're right." he shook his head. "nobody in this world can compare to the amount of weirdness that felix and jisung share. those two are quite...special."

hyunjin nodded and turned to face him. "they are. but you know who's more special than them?"

"if you say that it's me, i'm going to puke."

"you, babe."

seungmin let out a frustrated noise before turning onto his side, away from a  _very_  amused hyunjin.  _there is no way he hasn't fallen in love with me now,_  he thought smugly, utterly unaware of the fact that seungmin  _hadn't_  fallen in love with him. in fact, he felt the complete  _opposite_  about him. but unfortunately for him, that is not something hyunjin would realize for a very long time.

"you love me."

"shut up, creep."

 

 

 

jeongin awoke to the sound of the waves and the sun shining in his face. "mmm..." he mumbled, and drew the fluffy white comforter over his head to block out the light.

_wait... i don't own a comforter..._

jeongin shot up in bed. looking around frantically, he tried to figure out where in the world he was. all he could remember was talking to chan out in the garage, and then...  _nothing._  "c-chan?" he stepped out of bed and tentatively cracked open the door. "chan? where are you?" nervousness seeped into his voice and fear took over his body. he had no idea what happened after he fell asleep. all he could do was pray that chan was somewhere nearby.

 

 

 

"doesn't matter if the world is a cold place, 'cause i'm getting—  _yowch!"_  a certain australian cried in pain after hot oil jumped onto his hand. "why the heck do hot things keep getting on my hands? seriously!" bang chan was, at that moment, cooking a lavish breakfast for everyone in the kitchen: bacon, eggs, and bagels (since he hadn't known he would have to feed seven other people when he went to the store a few days prior). in other words, chan was not anywhere near jeongin at the moment,  _and_  he had his earbuds on, preventing him from hearing the younger boy's cries. luckily, though, out in the living room, someone  _did_  hear him.

 

 

 

"chan? where are you?"

hyunjin perked up from his spot on the floor.  _my jeongin senses are tingling!_  he jumped up and, after stepping over the other sleeping bodies on the floor, practically flew up the stairwell to save his friend from whatever terror was plaguing him.

"jeongin, sweetie! where are you?" he yelled, pulling open various doors in the hallway. "hyunjinnie is here to save you!"

a door in the middle of the hallway suddenly slam shut, and hyunjin zoomed over there just in time to hear a muffled jeongin from the other side. "uh, never mind. i don't need your help."

hyunjin pouted. "aw, i'm hurt! my jeonginnie doesn't want to see me?"

"no. i wanted to see chan."

hyunjin's pout only deepened at this. "i can't believe you! you'd rather be with a surfer that you've only known for a day than your biker brother that you've known for  _years?_  this is treachery! treason! why, if i didn't know any better, i'd say you liked him better than me!"

"i do."

hyunjin gasped and clasped a hand to his heart. "oh, the frigid winds of teen rebellion! i cannot stay here any longer!" and in a flourish, he ran down the stairs, sobbing overdramatically. "minho, comfort me!"

minho, who had tried to fall back asleep earlier but gave up, calmly flipped a page in his book. "absolutely not. go cry to your boyfriend."

hyunjin whipped around to face seungmin. "seungminnie, comfort me!"

"i'd rather eat shit."

"bet you won't."

"watch me." seungmin turned to the direction of chan's kitchen. "hey, chan, i need some of your food!"

hyunjin burst into laughter as the silver-haired surfer exited the kitchen, plates of food in his hands. "perfect timing, since— wait, why is everyone laughing at me?"

"you just got  _flamed,_  mate," felix (who had woken up just in time to hear seungmin's quality roast) guffawed, causing chan's jaw to drop.

 _"what?_  if this is about my cooking again, i swear to god—!"

and that's how han jisung, age nineteen, woke up to his best friend bang chan chasing seungmin around with a fork, screeching,  _"kim seungmin, i'm going to stab you in the eyes!"_

ah, yes. just another morning in bang chan's household.

 


	9. YANG JEONGIN, A SYMBOL OF FRIENDSHIP, AND A SLEEPOVER'S END

**AFTER AN**  eventful breakfast, the boys found various ways to amuse themselves as chan put the last finishing touches on jeongin's bike. his speed and precision baffled everyone, especially the bikers.  _how is some surfer guy fixing a bike faster and better than our most trusted mechanics?_  they thought in shock.

but sadly, all good things must come to an end, and that ending came a little before noon. chan called for jeongin from the garage, and the boy slipped there happily, eager to see his motorcycle.

"w... _woah!"_ he exclaimed when he arrived in the garage. "there's not a scratch on it! it looks perfect! oh, thank you, thank you,  _thank you,_  chan!" he wrapped his arms around his torso, and the older boy chuckled.

"it's no problem, jeongin. it's the least i could do." he ruffled jeongin's dark locks and grinned when he pulled away with an annoyed face. both of them knew that jeongin was just playing around, though (in fact, he secretly enjoyed it, but put up a front to cover it up).

the bike in itself was jeongin's pride and joy. it was large and roared when he started it up, which caused a rush of adrenaline to surge through his veins. its slick black paint shone in the sunlight, giving off the impression that it glittered. all in all, jeongin's bike (which he named "the dark fox") was sleek and smooth, and he loved it to pieces.

but, one thing he always longed for was some sort of design on his motorcycle. the stray souls always told him that any sort of marking on your bike had to symbolize something important to you because your motorcycle was like an extension of yourself. changbin's motorcycle had a giant skull painted on it; minho's had a galaxy pattern; hyunjin spray-painted purple flames onto his. but jeongin's bike remained bare. he was at a loss as to what to put on his bike. his friends all told him that it would come to him in time, but he just wasn't convinced. everyone else had found a design for their bike, so why hadn't  _he?_

that's why jeongin couldn't hide his surprise when, upon further inspection, he found a tiny symbol on the rear of his motorcycle. it was an "s"— or was it a nine?— whose bright red colour heavily contrasted with the darkness of the bike. however, it was rather small and was placed so that you wouldn't see it unless you were looking closely at the bike.

"chan... what's this?" jeongin questioned, pointing to the strange symbol. chan laughed and scratched the back of his head, a guilty look on his face.

"well, i noticed that your bike didn't have anything on it, so i thought i would surprise you with a little design of mine! it's an 's'— you know, for 'stray souls'— and i made it small just in case you didn't like it and wanted to cover it up." smiling softly, he said, "it's just a little something for you to remember your time here. you and your friends are always welcome back in my home."

jeongin thought that he was going to burst into tears. chan was one of the sweetest people he had ever met in his entire life, and only now did the realization that he would have to leave and return to the gang strike him. no more card games or rude awakenings from the surfers. no more movies or late night talks with chan. just the memory of the brief moments that they shared.

jeongin should've seen this coming. it was evident from the start, and yet he chose to ignore the harsh reality. chan was a surfer and he was a biker. surfers and bikers didn't mix. they weren't  _supposed_  to mix. and yet somehow, they had broken those barriers in a mere day and discovered that just because they were from opposite ends of the spectrum didn't mean that they couldn't connect. all of the stereotypes about bikers and surfers being sworn enemies didn't make sense to jeongin anymore. he didn't see leather jackets or board shorts. all he saw were people who had a lot more in common than they thought but simply refused to accept it.

but  _why?_

before jeongin could get too deep into his thoughts, a hand placed itself onto his shoulder. "jeongin? you okay, mate? do you hate it that much?"

the boy shook his head frantically, chan's voice silencing the chatter in his brain. "no! sorry, i was thinking about something else. i love it, chan. it's really cool." it was the truth— jeongin  _did_  love the design— but chan could see how the biker's smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"hey," he frowned, taking a seat on a nearby stool and gesturing for jeongin to do the same, "what's on your mind? i can tell that whatever you're thinking about is bringing you down."

jeongin fidgeted with the sleeve of his leather jacket as he sat down. "i dunno... it's sort of stupid."

"i can assure you that i've heard stupider things come out of jisung's mouth." chan's heart warmed when jeongin giggled a bit. "now, come on. out with it."

jeongin hesitated, but eventually gave in. "i was thinking about what will happen after this. we... we're not gonna see each other ever again, aren't we?"

chan's mouth formed an "o" in understanding. "so  _that's_  what you're worried about." jeongin nodded and looked down, light pink dusting his cheeks. "well, jeongin, it's true that it's not typical of bikers and surfers to be seen together, much less  _befriend_  each other." jeongin's heart clenched. "but—" he perked up slightly— "we're not like everyone else, are we?"

jeongin lit up. "so does this mean that we can still see each other?" after receiving a nod and a dimpled smile, he squealed and bounded over to chan. burying his face in his chest, he muffled out, "thank you so much, chan! for everything."

chan's face went cherry red.  _god, he's too cute to be legal_. "anytime, kid. anytime."

**☀☀☀**

when jeongin and chan entered the living room, they were met with a surprising sight: the bikers were engaging in civilized (well, for the most part) conversation with the surfers! this caused jeongin to gasp loudly. all his life he had listened to his friends complain about how annoying and terrible the surfers were, and now here they were, casually talking about the new milkshake joint that had recently opened up in the town! jeongin was extremely happy, but at the same time extremely confused. what had happened while he was outside?

hyunjin quickly took note of his presence and ran over to him, shooting him a sly grin as he did so. tugging jeongin to the side of the room, away from any eavesdroppers, he said, "so, how was it? was he any good?"

jeongin gave him a confused look. "how was what?"

hyunjin rolled his eyes. "look, jeongin, you can drop the 'pure' act around me. i know that the two of you made out while you were in the garage. trust me, hyunjin knows  _everything."_

jeongin felt like his body was on fire.  _"what the hell?_  of course, we didn't do...  _that!_  get your mind out of the gutter, hyunjin!"

the taller boy shrugged. "well, when two people are gone for a long time, it usually means they're either sitting there awkwardly not wanting to be the first one to leave the room, or it means that they're sucking face. i should know." he chuckled when jeongin whacked him on the arm, blushing madly.

"no! we weren't doing that! stop being stupid!"

"oh, is it bully jeongin day?" changbin yelled from across the room, and hyunjin laughed, waving him over. "i see! so what are we teasing him about today?" changbin grinned devilishly and rolled up his sleeves, and jeongin knew that he was in for the noogie of his life.  _dear lord, why does this have to happen to me?_  he thought in despair, mentally praying to whatever god that was out there to save him from this disaster.

"nobody's bullying anyone. save that for when we get home." minho's voice caused hyunjin and changbin to pout while jeongin cheered.  _thank god, my prayers were answered!_  he thought happily. "it's time for us to go, anyway. i fear that we've overstayed our welcome."

this caused jeongin to droop like a wilted flower. "aw, man..."

chan smiled reassuringly. "no need to worry, minho. i quite enjoyed having you all over. it was a lot of fun." minho acknowledged his statement with a small nod. "i told jeongin this earlier, but my door is always open for you guys. don't hesitate to visit or give me a call whenever you want. it was really nice having you all here."

jeongin's friends went silent, and the biker knew them well enough to know that they were rendered speechless by chan's offer. jeongin understood their feelings— a surfer extending a hand of welcome to bikers? that was unheard of. so, he jumped in for them before the silence got too awkward. "thank you, chan. if we ever need help, we'll let you know." he led his friends to the door and guided them out, turning around to wave at the four surfers who he was lucky to now call his friends. "goodbye, you guys! i hope to see you again soon!"

a chorus of  _byes_  rang out from the house, and as his gaze shifted from person to person, jeongin let his eyes linger on one in particular before finally shutting the door and walking down from the porch to his newly repaired bike. but right before he was about to climb on, a hand stopped him. "jeongin, wait."

he looked up to find minho standing there, a look that he'd never seen before in his eyes. "yeah?"

minho remained unspeaking for a few moments longer, and jeongin could feel the curious stares of changbin and hyunjin boring into them. finally, he spoke in a quiet voice, and jeongin had to crane his neck to hear him.

"that guy... chan. he's nice. they all are." and with that, he quickly walked over to his motorcycle and slid on.

jeongin was  _elated_. minho hated meeting new people, and he hated surfers as well. but those simple words from him were enough for jeongin to figure out that he was having a change of heart. the silent, unmoving minho had accepted these new people, a feat that the young biker thought would be impossible.

and as the four of them drove off together, jeongin thought that maybe— just maybe— his dream of connecting everyone wouldn't be so hard after all.

but some minds aren't so easily changed.


	10. YANG JEONGIN, A TEXT, AND A BEACH-THEMED CAFE

**THE HOME**  of the stray souls was nothing short of full. its walls were filled to the brim with bikers: bikers eating, bikers chatting, bikers getting ready to...well, bike. at this moment, the house was at its maximum capacity, for everyone was inside, tucked into their bunk beds that were far too small for their bodies.

jeongin was one of these people, sleeping peacefully amidst the loud snores that bounced off of the walls in the room he shared with five of his biker brothers. he had grown accustomed to the noise and it became sort of a lullaby for him, so it was hard to sleep without it. he needed some sort of noise to fall asleep, whether it be the sound of someone breathing heavily or the sound of someone fixing a dented motorcycle at twelve in the morning.

although jeongin could probably sleep through a thunderstorm, for some reason his eyes snapped open as soon as he heard the  _ding_  of his phone beside him. why? half-asleep jeongin didn't know. maybe it was chance. maybe it was fate. or maybe it was because, deep down, he was anxiously awaiting a text from a certain someone (although he wouldn't admit it to himself).

rubbing his eyes, jeongin lay still for a few moments longer, staring at the ceiling above him (that was dangerously close to his face). after finally blinking away the last remnants of sleep, he picked his phone up and turned it on to see who had messaged him. bright light immediately shone into his eyes and the poor boy ended up dropping the phone onto his face with a startled cry. he blindly fumbled with his brightness, turning it down as much as he could, and waited for his headache to clear before trying again. much to his surprise, he had gotten a text from an unknown number.

 

 **unknown: MY DUDE IT'S THE  
** **PERFECT DAY TO**  
**CATCH A WAVE,**  
**YOU WANNA COME**  
**ON DOWN???**

 **jeongin: ?**  
**jeongin: sorry who is this?**

 **unknown: oh shit sorry**  
**unknown: forgot lmao**  
**unknown: IT'S JISUNGIE!! you**  
**remember me ya??**

 **jeongin: OH HI JISUNG**  
**jeongin: how'd you get my number?**

 **squirrel: got it from channie lol**  
**squirrel: anyway do you wanna**  
**go to the beach? it's a**  
**ton of fun!!**

 

jeongin didn't respond immediately. one one hand, he desperately wanted to join jisung and his friends at the beach— the place he'd always loved. but on the other hand, bikers were forbidden from going to the beach, and if he got caught, the consequences would be extremely severe.

_what do i do?_

he was about to decline the offer apologetically when jisung sent something else that made his finger freeze right above the "send" button.

 

**squirrel: chan's gonna be there**

 

jeongin didn't know what about that sentence made him suddenly rethink his decision, but before he could stop himself, he had already typed out a new reply and hit the "send" button.  
  


**jeongin: i'll go** **!**

 

  
and that was how yang jeongin, age eighteen, ended up at jyp café at nine in the morning, waiting for jisung, felix, seungmin, and chan to pick him up.

jyp café was the only place in town where bikers and surfers could be seen together in peace. the workers of the eatery wanted to make a sort of middle ground for both groups to be able to just relax and not worry about labels for at least a little while. but once you exited its doors, it was back to drawn lines and guarded boundaries. that's how it's always been, and— to some, at least— how it always should be.

as soon as he took a seat at the cozy beach-themed café, someone zipped over to him. "jeongin! long time no see, kiddo!"

jeongin looked up from his phone to find one of his friends, a man named kim woojin, smiling down at him. "woojin!" he exclaimed happily, and jumped up to give him a hug. "it's been forever since i last saw you! how are things around here?"

woojin shrugged. "same as always. busy. filled with bikers and surfers. we got a new entertainer recently, and he does  _wonders_  at distracting everyone from how long their food is taking to cook. his name is wonpil and he has the most wonderful voice!"

"well, so do you, woojin!" jeongin said, which made his friend laugh. "seriously! i've heard you sing before. you're good."

"thanks, kid." he paused when a voice yelled his name and sighed. "sorry jeongin, i've got to get back to work or jihyo's gonna kill me. see you around!" with a wave, he disappeared into the kitchen, re-emerging with plates of food in his arms.

jeongin went back to scrolling on his phone, but not even five minutes passed before a new voice called out his name. "jeongin?"

he looked up to find the faces of his friends staring down at him with a mixture of joy and confusion. "g-guys? what're you doing here?" he asked, slightly panicked. of course they had to go to the café on the day that he was about to be picked up by the surfers!  _of all days, it **had**  to be today!_

"well, hyunjin insisted on dragging us here because there's someone he's looking for," changbin sighed exasperatedly. "it seems he's found a new target for his pick-up lines. he won't tell us who she is, though."

at this, hyunjin made a face. "who says it's a she?"

"because you're infamous for picking up chicks! so it's got to be a girl."

hyunjin shrugged at changbin's reply. "well, we'll see." he then began fervently scanning the area, his eyes flitting back and forth.

 _i have to think of a way to get them out of here!_ jeongin thought, fear setting in. "um, well..."  _crap! what do i say that will make them go away?_

minho must have picked up on his nervousness because he looked at him with a questioning gaze. "is everything alright, jeongin?" he asked, and under any other circumstance, jeongin would've appreciated him caring, but not now.

"well...it's just—" he was interrupted by the sound of bells jingling, signaling that someone had entered the café. his stomach dropped when he turned around and saw a particular quartet of surfers standing there, heads swiveling around searching for him.  _oh my god, why is this happening to me?_

"jeongin, you good? you're looking paler than normal," changbin asked, worry seeping into his voice. "do you need us to take you back home?"

"no, i—"

"ah! there he is! jeongin!"

 _shit!_ jeongin thought in dread when he heard felix's deep voice.  _shit, shit, shit, shit!_

minho cocked an eyebrow. "wait a second," he said, "are you here because you're waiting...for  _them?"_

jeongin had no words. he felt like his soul had been sucked out of his body. first, his friends found out that he was at a surfer's house, and now they found out that he was sneaking out to meet them!  _oh, fate, what did i ever do to deserve this?_

"oh, hey guys!" chan said when he and his friends arrived at jeongin's table. "what a coincidence! i didn't think i'd see y'all here."

changbin was the only one to acknowledge his words with a nod. minho was too busy staring incredulously at jeongin while hyunjin's eyes were glued to one of the males at chan's side, a small smirk on his face. jeongin was too busy trying to sink into his leather jacket to care, though.  _i wish i could disappear..._

after a brief period of awkward silence, chan clapped his hands together. "well, it was, uh, nice seeing you guys. jeongin, are you ready to go?"

it was then that changbin finally figured out what was going on. "wait," he said, whipping around to face jeongin, "you're hanging out with them now? i thought that we made it clear to you that yesterday was a one-time thing! we are not to associate with their kind!"

felix and jisung visibly flinched at this, and a pang of sadness shot through jeongin's heart. "what do you mean 'our kind'? we're humans, just like you!" seungmin snapped, hostility radiating off of him in waves.

"seungmin, calm down," chan warned, although it was easy to see that he was forcing his voice to stabilize. ignoring seungmin's protests, he said, "we're sorry if we offended you in any way, changbin. we just wanted to take jeongin out for some fun. you can come along too if you'd like."

changbin let out a huff and opened his mouth to speak, but hyunjin beat him to it. "sure," he said, his smirk growing wider. "we'd love to."

"what the fu—"

changbin's curse was cut off when a voice from the kitchen yelled, "watch your profanities before i cut your tongue off!"

"—dge, hyunjin?" changbin seethed. "we can't just hang around surfers in broad daylight! do you know what could happen?"

"come on, bin, what's the harm in having a little fun?" hyunjin dropped his voice to a whisper. "plus, i've found my new target, and you need to be there to make sure nothing  _bad_  happens."

the shorter male stiffened. "alright, i'm going."

 _thank god for hyunjin,_  jeongin thought, and realized that in the past few days his handsome friend had saved his butt more times than he had in the past few  _years_.  _dang, hyunjin is really stepping up his game! what a solid guy,_  he thought. he turned to minho, who (like always) was the most reluctant to agree to the group's shenanigans. and for a good reason, too— most of the time it involved them either embarrassing themselves or possibly getting into huge trouble. but then again, wasn't that a typical day for a biker anyway?

just as jeongin predicted, minho let out a heavy sigh and crossed his arms. "fine," he said in a low tone. "just... please tell me that this is the last time we do something like this, okay? it's bad enough that we spent the night at a surfer's house. now we're willingly spending time with them at the one place we're not supposed to be?" he shook his head. "sometimes i wonder why i'm friends with you all."

"it's because you love us!" hyunjin said with a laugh. minho just shook his head again, but jeongin knew him long enough to know that deep down, the older male truly did care for them, even if he didn't always show it.

seungmin checked his phone (and if jeongin were paying more attention, he would have seen that seungmin had checked his phone approximately one hundred and sixty-eight times ever since he had entered jyp café, trying to ignore a certain someone who wouldn't stop staring at him). "yo, so according to my calculations, the waves should be reaching their peak pretty soon. are we all ready to go?"

chan looked down at jeongin, smiling when the younger nodded enthusiastically. "alright!" the silver-haired male said, and ruffled jeongin's hair affectionately. "well, guys, be prepared to go where no biker has gone before: the beach."

"i don't think i'm ready for this," minho mumbled, and the entire group laughed.

but they wouldn't be laughing if they knew just how right he was.


	11. BANG CHAN, THE BEACH, AND A STARTLING CONFESSION

**CHAN THOUGHT**  that the bikers were being dramatic when they said that they weren't prepared, but when they arrived at the beach, he realized that they were actually correct.

for one, none of them had any swim clothes (minus jeongin, of course). they were all donned in black jeans, t-shirts, and leather jackets, and chan could see them sweltering under the midday sun. two, they had no towels either, meaning that they couldn't dry off to hide the fact that they had been to the beach. and three, they were bikers. if the fact that they agreed to come along wasn't baffling enough, it was that they actually meant it. here were four bikers looking miserably out of place on the golden sands of the shoreline, staring at the people in the water with wide eyes.

if he were being honest, chan never expected them to say yes to his offer. he had only said that to be polite since he felt the awkward tension in the air back in the café, but did he ever think in a million years that they would actually come along? nope. so during their walk to the beach, he had to figure out a plan for everyone— and quick.

"okay," he said, calling everyone's attention to him. "since some people don't have proper swim attire, i'm gonna need someone to go back to my house and grab some. seungmin, would you mind going?"

"not in the slightest!" he chirped, and chan wondered what had gotten into him (he seemed to be quite relieved when given his task, making chan wonder why he was so eager to break away from the group).

"take someone with you, alright?" chan said. "i don't want you to get, like, kidnapped or something."  _or run over by a motorcycle,_  he refrained from saying.

"okay. i'll take fe—"

"i'll go."

chan turned around to find hyunjin standing there with a smile that radiated innocence.  _aww! he must care for seungmin's well-being!_  chan thought, crying tears of happiness internally.  _who knew that the bikers could be so kind?_  "thank you, hyunjin, for volunteering. the two of you can go. be careful!"

seungmin's jaw dropped and he let out a noise of frustration, causing hyunjin's grin to grow even wider as he grabbed the surfer by the elbow and dragged him away. this confused chan— why was seungmin upset when hyunjin was just trying to be helpful?— but he didn't think too much about it as he turned his attention to the rest of the group.

"first off, does anyone not know how to swim?" he asked and cocked an eyebrow when he was met with silence. chan knew for a fact that there wasn't a single biker that had ever been remotely  _near_ the water before, so there wasn't a chance that any of them knew how to swim without flailing around and drowning. but, understanding that bikers had a strong sense of pride, he tried a different tactic to try and coax them into trusting him. "c'mon, guys. there's no shame in not knowing how to swim. jisung used to be deathly afraid of the water—"

"hey!"

"— but because he told us, we were able to help him conquer that fear. we can help you guys out, but you have to tell us if you need it."

again, no one said anything, and chan sighed in defeat. "fine then. i guess you're all perfectly comfortable with the water." he didn't miss the look of worry that flashed across jeongin's face, and his heart softened at the sight. "but i know— and none of you can argue with me on this— that none of you know how to surf. so, i'll pair you up with one of my friends to help you out."

he thought for a brief moment.  _who would be best suited to go with each other?_ his goal was to get the two groups closer to each other so that they could hopefully form some friendships with people on the other side. he wanted to bridge the gap between the bikers and surfers since he really had no reason to hate them. he already knew who to pair up with minho (on their walk here, jisung had slipped him a twenty dollar bill and chan knew exactly what he wanted), but who should be with the other three?

 _seungmin's with hyunjin right now, so maybe i'll just keep them together— after all, i bet they're getting even closer right now!_  chan thought (not realizing that the exact opposite was happening at that moment). _felix is really good at making people feel comfortable,_ so i _think he'll be able to get changbin to let down his guard just a bit. and jeongin..._

chan clapped his hands together. "okay, here's the plan," he said excitedly. "seungmin and hyunjin will be one pair since they're already together. jisung will help out minho and be his buddy. and felix can be partnered with changbin." he looked over at jeongin with a dimpled grin. "that means you're with me, kid."

jeongin flashed him a bright smile and chan couldn't tell if his aura was blinding him or if it was the sun reflecting off of his braces; either way, it made chan's grin grow even wider, and he ruffled the younger male's dark locks affectionately. _what a pure soul._ "so, when hyunjin and seungmin return, you can all get changed and we can get in the water!"

jisung and felix let out a hearty cheer while changbin and minho looked like they'd rather be anywhere but there, standing in the sand under the blazing sun. it was almost comical how the four of them seemed to be polar opposites, and chan had to bite back a small chuckle at the sight.

 

**☀☀☀**

 

"ch...chan?"

the silver-haired boy turned around slowly and had to stop himself from openly gaping at the sight before him. after hyunjin and seungmin's returned with the spare swim trunks (the former looking rather pleased and the latter looking rather done with life), chan had passed them out to the bikers who left for the bathrooms to change. he had already changed prior to their arrival and simply slipped off his t-shirt, tossing it onto the sand with the rest of their things. his group of friends had gone to rent surfboards, and he had volunteered to watch their stuff by himself. so he was rather surprised when he heard a small voice calling out his name, and even more surprised when he saw the owner of the voice.

it was jeongin, and he stood in front of chan timidly, a shy look on his face. he glanced at the older boy before quickly averting his eyes, his gaze darting everywhere but to the male in front of him. the way his arms were placed on his abdomen made it seem like he was trying to hide, although chan couldn't understand why: to him, the younger male looked really...well...

"cute," he breathed out, staring at jeongin's pale, milky skin. he unconsciously wondered if it were as smooth as it looked and nearly reached his hand out to see.

jeongin's head tilted up a bit. "did you say something?"

chan realized that he had spoken his thoughts out loud and turned away so that the younger wouldn't see how his red his ears were becoming. "nope. you must've heard something." jeongin hummed in response, and it was quiet between them for a few moments. the soothing splash of the waves against the shore and the faint laughs of the other beach-goers filled the silence, making it feel less awkward and more comfortable as time went by.

chan was lost in thought when jeongin began to speak. "you know, i've always loved the ocean," the biker said, causing the surfer to look at up him from where he sat on the sand. "ever since i was young, i had been fascinated by it. i never knew why. it's like it called out to me for some reason. and..." he hesitated for a moment before continuing. "and the more i realized that i couldn't have it, the louder the call became."

chan let the biker's words sink in for a bit. he wasn't expecting such a shocking confession out of the younger, so he didn't immediately have a response for him— however, he couldn't deny the happiness that bubbled up inside of his chest. not only was jeongin the softest, most adorable biker he had ever met, but they had more things in common than he had originally thought.

"jeongin, there's absolutely nothing bad about loving the sea," he began. "i know that the ways of the bikers can be a bit...restricting...but that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you. if anything, it shows how brave you are."

jeongin sent him a confused look. "brave?"

chan nodded. "yeah. simply talking with me is dangerous in itself, seeing that your gang isn't very open-minded, but choosing to come with me and my friends to the beach?" he chuckled a bit. "you're insane, jeongin. some might even say foolish, since— despite everything— you continue to seek out the one thing you love with all your heart."

out of the corner of his eye, chan could see the younger boy wilt a bit at his words. but the next thing he said caused his eyes to widen.

"that's what i like about you the most, jeongin."

and as they sat on the warm sand that hot afternoon, waiting for their friends to return, chan couldn't resist the urge to smile when he felt the younger male subtly scoot closer and closer to them until their knees touched. jeongin froze, but after seeing the corner's of chan's lips twitch upwards, he relaxed against the older boy. it was quite a sight: a biker and a surfer sitting peacefully together, waves lapping at their feet, not a single inch of space between their sides. anyone seeing this might have called them crazy, absurd, or absolutely mad; but nobody saw that. all anyone saw were two average people enjoying each other's company, and that's precisely what they were: two average people.

no floral shirts and sunburns.

no leather jackets and exhaust fumes.

just two people, wishing that that was all they were.


	12. YANG JEONGIN, A PANICKED GAY, AND THE WAVE

**"GOT IT** , jeongin?"

the biker snapped out of his stupor. they were currently ankle-deep in the water and chan had been explaining some things to him when he began to zone out a bit and focused on other things besides the words coming out of chan's mouth. jeongin was a (sort of) mature adult(ish) of eighteen, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of chan's body, he felt like a young, bumbling twelve-year-old again. it had caught him off guard when he had approached him on the beach after he had finished changing; he thought that there was some random weirdo rummaging through their stuff, and he grew slightly apprehensive. but upon recognizing chan's trademark silver hair, he fully relaxed.

well, until the surfer turned around.

 _holy shit_ was the only coherent thought that jeongin could come up with when he saw the male before him. he was absolutely  _ripped_ , and the biker couldn't stop himself from openly ogling at him in awe. shirtless men were nothing new in jeongin's life— the male members of the stray souls (especially hyunjin and occasionally changbin) loved to show off their muscles— but for some reason, seeing one of his  _buddies_  shirtless and seeing  _chan_ shirtless were two  _completely_  different things for him. while one was disgusting and cheesy, the other invoked a weird, panicky feeling deep inside of him that he did not care for  _at all._

jeongin had been staring at the veins that trailed along chan's pale arms when he finally came back to reality and found the surfer himself staring at him questioningly. "jeongin, were you even listening to me?"

jeongin's face flushed red at being caught. "uh... no?"

chan sighed, but the small smile that graced his lips told jeongin that he wasn't annoyed. "i was saying that we're going to paddle out a little further out where the waves are better. i find that it's always better to learn by doing rather than watching. does that sound good?"

jeongin hesitated. on one hand, he had a really strong urge to prove himself to chan. he wanted to show him that he could do this and that he wouldn't fail him. he wanted to make chan proud. but on the other hand, he couldn't...

he shook his head slightly to rid his mind of the thought. "yeah, let's do it," he said, trying to hide any ounce of doubt in his voice.

chan glanced at him, his eyes filled with something that jeongin couldn't decipher. "...are you sure?" he asked. "it's a bit rocky out there, and sometimes the currents can get pretty rough. i'm not saying that i don't think you can do it or anything, i'm just telling you that it can be kind of dangerous, so there's no shame in just staying in the shallower area..."

 _is he trying to talk me out of it or something?_  jeongin thought skeptically. the surfer looked a bit hesitant and he continuously drummed his fingers on his surfboard almost as if he were anxious. and seeing this— seeing how chan was so clearly looking out for his well-being— jeongin nearly changed his mind right then and there. the fear in his heart was so close to spilling out, and he opened his mouth to tell chan...

...but then, behind chan's shoulder, he saw how changbin was messily clambering onto a surfboard next to a grinning felix; how minho and jisung were calmly paddling out to the open sea; and how hyunjin sat on his surfboard playfully teasing seungmin, who was trying to swim away. and after seeing how all of his friends were so determined to do this, jeongin was filled with newfound resolution.

_i'm going to keep up with them. i **need**  to keep up with them._

"i'm sure. let's do this."

chan's lips drew themselves into a tight line. "okay," he said, before turning away from him to walk further out into the water. he suddenly whipped around, holding his pointer finger in the air. "but! if at any point at all you start having second thoughts, you have to let me know, okay? promise me."

there was an intense burning in chan's eyes, but rather than it striking fear into jeongin's heart, it actually made him feel sort of strange. he didn't know what it was, but there was something about the evident worry in the surfer's gaze and the caring undertones in his voice that made jeongin's heart begin to beat a little faster. he liked the feeling that he got when chan said things like that. it showed that he really, truly cared about his well-being.

 _he's so nice,_  jeongin thought as he followed chan further out into the water. he was so caught up in the kindness and all-around amazing qualities that the surfer seemed to exemplify that he didn't even notice how they were getting deeper and deeper into the sea. it wasn't until the waves lapped right below his bare chest that he realized what he was doing and began to panic.

"uh... chan? can you help me... uh..." he gestured to the board that floated next to him. "uh..."

chan smiled, his dimples causing jeongin's heart to melt. "do you need help getting up on your board?" he chuckled when jeongin gave an embarrassed nod. "no worries. i didn't expect you to do it on your first try. here, i've got you."

jeongin thought that chan would talk him through it and tell him how to successfully climb onto his board without sliding off and looking like a fool. what he did  _not_  expect was for chan to swim over to him, wrap his hands around his abdomen, and lean down next to his ear, saying, "i've got you, okay?"

 _holy shit._  if jeongin wasn't pink before, he sure was  _now_. here he was, a panicked gay, being hoisted up by a  _really_  (probably straight) hot guy. he felt the way that chan's hands tightened momentarily on his skin as he lifted him up before setting him gently down on top of the white surfboard and loosening his grip. he kept his hands there, though, even after jeongin shifted around to balance himself.

"are you good?" chan asked. all jeongin could do was give him a small nod, fearing that speaking would give away how flustered he was.

chan didn't pull away for a few seconds more, but when he did, the younger boy felt like he was going to combust; the surfer casually rubbed a small patch of skin on jeongin's waist with his thumb before turning away, and the biker thanked god that he did because at that moment he was bright red— and not from the sun beating down on his back.

"alright," chan said and climbed onto his own board with the smoothness of someone who had done it a thousand times. jeongin made a mental note of how his back muscles tightened as he did so. "so to move around, you're just going to paddle forward. if you want to turn, use one hand to push the water backward." he demonstrated it for jeongin and the biker watched in awe. "do you want to try paddling out?"

jeongin nodded excitedly. "yeah! let's do it!"

"then away we go!"

 

**☀☀☀**

 

_"are you sure i can do it?"_

after paddling for a short amount of time and waiting for a longer amount of time, chan instructed jeongin to get ready. before they had gone in the water, all of the surfers had taught the group of bikers what to do when a wave approached them. they practiced how to get up and stand on their boards, as well as what to do in case they fell off. however, doing it on land was  _completely_  different from actually doing it in the water, and frankly, jeongin didn't think he would be able to get off of his stomach.

chan laughed when he told him this. "that's perfectly normal for a first-timer! here, i'll go first and show you how it's done."

and he did. on the next wave that rolled past them, chan paddled out before gracefully jumping atop his board, causing jeongin's eyes to pop out of their sockets.  _how did he do that?_  he thought as chan rode the wave like an expert, a thin line of sea foam trailing behind him. 

his heart raced when the wave began to curl and chan's frame slowly began disappearing from sight into the heart of the wave. he couldn't stop himself from yelling "no!" when the wave finally crashed down and his friend's body was nowhere to be seen.  _oh my god, oh my god, oh my god—_

he let out a sigh of relief when chan's head popped out of the water, laughing. jeongin stared as he flipped his silver locks back and subconsciously wondered how it was possible for someone to look so good even with their hair looking like it just came out of a washing machine.

"chan, that  _sucked!"_  jeongin looked to his side to see jisung clapping his hands like a seal a good distance away. minho sat on a surfboard next to him and stared at chan with wide eyes.  _he must be impressed,_  jeongin thought with a giggle.  _there's no doubt about it: that's minho's 'how-the-fuck-did-he-just-do-that' look!_

"yeah, man!" felix (who was a little bit behind jeongin) hooted. "usually you ride those kinds of waves super well! what's gotten into you?"

jisung glanced over at felix with a wolfish grin. "oh,  _i_  think i know what it is. chan's just nervous because he's got a little c—"

 _"i will burn your pictures!"_  the silver-haired boy shouted and jisung immediately shut up. felix burst out laughing and whacked his surfboard repeatedly as chan swam over to them, his board floating behind him (as it was attached to him by his ankle strap). he stopped at the front of jeongin's board and held onto the edge of it.

"so, jeongin," he said, peering up at the biker with sparkling eyes and a wide smile, "what did you think?"

at that moment, chan radiated such intense puppylike energy that jeongin could just picture him with ears, tail wagging expectantly behind him. it was, without a doubt, one of the cutest things he had ever witnessed. "it was super cool!" he exclaimed. "you're really awesome, chan! i wish i could be like you!"

the other surfers "awwed" and jeongin heard jisung whisper "how pure". chan sunk so that the bottom half of his face would be submerged underwater, but from the crescent shape of his eyes, jeongin could tell that he was smiling.

"hey, where's hyunjin?" changbin asked, and it was then that everyone realized that both seungmin and hyunjin were not among them. suddenly, a wave passed by them, as did two screaming bodies.

"is that...?" jisung trailed off, and jeongin's jaw dropped.

"oh my god, it is!"

hyunjin and seungmin were surfing together on one board, seungmin clinging onto the taller male like it was the end of the world. it would've looked like a scene from a romance movie if both of them weren't screaming hysterically, their shared board wobbling erratically. jeongin couldn't help but let out a laugh at the sight.  _if only i could film this!_  he thought.

"woah, i didn't know that seungmin knew how to ride tandem style!" felix said. chan shook his head.

"he doesn't."

"...oh."

the group watched in silence as the pair soon fell off the board in a dramatic flourish; well, hyunjin fell off, but grabbed seungmin's arm at the last second and ended up dragging him down with him. the surfboard popped up out of the water, an ankle popping up with it, and a flailing hyunjin soon followed. he gripped onto the board and tried to climb back on it, but ended up flipping it over. the group laughed at the sight. poor hyunjin, the epitome of confidence and composure, was being sorely humiliated all thanks to a floating piece of foam.

"well, jeongin, it won't be tough to beat your friend when it's your turn to surf," felix grinned. "after a spectacle like that, anything would look good!"

jeongin gulped. he had forgotten that he would have to do it too, and  _everyone would be watching_.

"felix is right," chan said. "in fact, why don't you go right now? i'm sure you're itching to try it out!"

 _damn it!_  "uh, actually, maybe changbin or minho should just go—"

"don't worry about us, innie," changbin butted in. "i know that you were really hyped to do this, so you should go ahead."

and that's how jeongin ended up laying flat on his stomach, waiting for a wave by himself. chan insisted on clearing everyone out from the area to avoid collisions, so they were all a good distance away from him. chan was to his front, ready to jump in just in case something went wrong.

"are you sure i can do it?" jeongin asked. from his place on his board, chan gave him a thumbs up.

"yup! you got this, jeongin! trust me!"

 _'trust me'?_  jeongin took a deep breath and exhaled.  _yeah, i can trust you, chan._

it wasn't too long before the surfer perked up and yelled, "start paddling!"

jeongin took off, heart racing. adrenaline pumped through his veins, the need to prove himself coursing its way through his bloodstream. he could hear everyone cheering for him, and while that should've made him smile, it only made him more nervous. 

"up!" chan shouted and jeongin shakily peeled his body off of the surfboard and went on his knees. he was shaking from head to toe, and he felt like he would fall at any second.  _why did i ever think this was a good idea?_

"stand!" jeongin wasn't sure if he could. he attempted to put one foot on the board to steady himself, but that only made it jerk underneath him. he lurched forward but stopped himself from falling at the last second. breathing heavily, he tried again, but the board wobbled once more and he collapsed back onto his knees.

_i can't do it._

"jeongin!" he heard chan's voice yell through the roar of the wave that was growing fast. "jeongin, you have to stand!"

_i can't do it._

the crest rose further. "jeongin! hurry!"

_i can't._

a shadow climbed onto his back. "jeongin!"

_i can't._

the wave began to envelop him. "jeongin, get out of there!"

_i—_

the last thing he heard was a voice calling his name before the wave crashed down on him, and everything went black.


	13. [SPECIAL ONE] KIM SEUNGMIN, PICK-UP LINES, AND A KINDA-SORTA CRIME

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the very first special chapter that i wrote to commemorate me hitting 2k reads on wattpad!! in case you didn't know, every time i get 1k reads then i write a special chapter as a thank-you gift to my readers. i have people vote on what ship or character they want me to write about, and the most popular one becomes my next special chapter! there was no vote on an earlier chapter for this one because it was already decided a while back as well as the next special (which will be a minsung chapter), but from now on, i will not only be holding votes on my wattpad but also on ao3 as well! so stay tuned for future voting opportunities ;))

**WHEN KIM**  seungmin, age nineteen, was appointed by chan to retrieve the extra swim shorts from his house, he was ecstatic. he wanted nothing more than to escape a certain someone who had been eyeing him like a hungry tiger their entire walk to the beach. however, his happiness was short-lived when  _he_  actually  _volunteered_  to come along.

so, here seungmin was, heading to chan's house with hwang hyunjin himself, trying desperately to block out the numerous pick-up lines he was telling him with a smug grin.

when hyunjin hit number nineteen (not like seungmin was counting or anything), seungmin whipped around. "will you  _shut up?_  i'm tired of hearing your stupid voice saying stupid stuff!"

instead of deterring him, hyunjin's grin grew even wider. "well, sweetheart, there  _is_  one way you can shut me up. it's rather easy."

"how?"

"with a kiss."

seungmin gagged.  _what an idiot!_  "never in a million years!" he sped up his walking, trying to leave hyunjin and his obnoxious laughs in the dust, but the biker's long legs swiftly carried him to his side once more. "why did you have to volunteer to come along?"

hyunjin grinned cheekily at the boy's groans. "how could i pass up an offer to spend time with the most gorgeous man around?" he attempted to toss his arm around seungmin's shoulders but was quickly stopped with a sharp glare.

"touch me and i'll bite your arm off."

"ooh, kinky! i'm not really into that, though, but i'd be happy to try it with you." hyunjin winked flirtatiously and seungmin felt like he was going to explode.

 _"argh!"_  he yelled in frustration, startling a few passersby, and shook his fists towards the sky. "god, why must you test me like this?"

seungmin  _hated_  hyunjin, and he was one hundred percent sure of this fact. when they met for the first time, he didn't pay much mind to the biker because he seemed like the kind of person that he didn't want to associate himself with: arrogant, cocky, and  _way_  too obsessed with girls. but after waking up to his ugly face in the morning, it was like hyunjin was purposefully trying to shove himself into his life! and  _somehow_  he had gotten ahold of his number, too! when he had woken up in the morning, seungmin had found a text from a random number that read "hey, babe ;)", and it didn't take a super sleuth to figure out who sent it. (needless to say, he left him on read, hoping that he would take the hint. he didn't.) even just being in hyunjin's presence infuriated him. he didn't want to see his stupid eye smile or his perfect teeth or his milky white skin or his glossy hair or his plump lips or—

"—min. seungmin! seungmin, we're here." the surfer's thoughts of pure hatred were interrupted by hyunjin, who was snapping his fingers in front of his face with a questioning look. "earth to seungmin! yo, you good?"

seungmin pushed his hand away. "i'm fine. it's just..." he studied hyunjin's face with an odd look.

"just what?"

"you never call me by my name. it's weird."

a look of pure delight appeared on hyunjin's face. "i knew it! you  _do_  like the pet names i give you!"

"shut up! i do  _not!"_

"whatever you say, sugarplum." he winked again and got an eye roll in response.

"you're such an idiot." seungmin stuck out his hand with a sigh. "give me the keys. you have the keys, right?"

hyunjin shook his head. "i thought  _you_  had the keys."

seungmin's eyes widened as he slowly put down his arm. "you mean...  _neither_  of us have the keys to get into chan's house?"

"...i guess?"

seungmin wanted to melt into the concrete and disappear. as if spending an entire walk to chan's house with hyunjin wasn't bad enough, now he finds out that it was all for nothing!  _this has got to be one of the worst days ever,_  he thought.  _it might even beat out the time my dungeons and dragons character got cursed by a warlock and felix ended up killing it with his stupidity! i was doing so well, too..._

"wait, does chan have any windows?" hyunjin suddenly asked, and seungmin cocked an eyebrow.

"yeah, he's got one on the top floor. it leads to his bedroom. why?"

the biker clapped his hands together and bounced excitedly. "i'll go through the window and get us in! trust me, i've broken into places  _tons_  of times. i can do it." before seungmin had enough time to fully process what exactly he had said, hyunjin was already climbing a palm tree with surprising agility and hopped onto the roof of the garage.

"hold on a second!" seungmin stomped over to him in a huff. "did you just say that you've broken in—" something flew into his face, successfully stopping whatever he was about to say. "hey!" he ripped it off of his face: a black leather jacket with the word  _"prince"_  embroidered on it in cursive purple font.  _prince? is that what the bikers call hyunjin?_  glancing up at him (and noting the fact he was wearing a sleeveless shirt), seungmin could see how that might be so. his visuals were quite charming— for a biker, at least— and he acted quite egotistic, as if he were royalty, further proving the point. the more seungmin stood there observing the boy, the more fitting he found the nickname.

"see something you like, princess?" seungmin quickly averted his gaze from the simpering male on the garage and shook his head.

"nah, just wondering how the hell you think you're gonna get on the roof without falling to your imminent doom."

hyunjin shrugged nonchalantly. "god gave me this body for a reason, honey." and with that he ran towards the wall that connected the garage to the house and kicked off of it, propelling his body upwards enough for him to grab hold of a small overhang on the roof. he dangled there for a few seconds before hoisting himself up with a grunt, and seungmin watched as the muscles in his arms flexed as he did so (although, it wasn't like he was checking him out or anything). at last, he flopped onto chan's roof and all seungmin could see were his ripped-jean-clad legs dangling over the side. suddenly they disappeared and seungmin heard loud thumps echo from the rooftop as well as an  _"oh shit!"_  before the sound of glass breaking was heard. then it was silent.

now, seungmin claimed that he hated hyunjin, but that didn't stop worry from rising within his chest. "hey!" he called out. "are you okay? are you alright? hyunjin!"

the door burst open to reveal a sweaty hyunjin holding a pile of neatly folded clothes, eyes twinkling amusedly. "you called?" 

seungmin let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and hit the male repeatedly on the shoulder. "you scared me! i thought you'd fallen off or something!"

hyunjin laughed and grabbed the surfer's hand. "aw, my princess  _does_  care! i'm so touched!"

seungmin glared at him and ripped his hand away. "now i'm starting to wish you  _had_  fallen off."

"oh, so you're not even going to deny your affections for me?"

 _"shut up!"_  seungmin turned and began briskly walking away. "i'm leaving you here. so long, hwang."

"wait, wait! i can't be here alone at the scene of the crime!" hyunjin cried and sprinted to catch up to the surfer who looked at him quizzically.

"crime? what crime?"

hyunjin went silent— something that hadn't happened yet during their walk— and quietly said, "some dude saw me when i was about to open the window and i  _might_  have freaked out and swung myself into the glass. and broke the window. and knocked over chan's dresser. and tore down the curtain."

seungmin stared at him, jaw dropped. a hundred thoughts were running through his head, ranging from  _what an idiot!_  to  _holy fuck we gotta run._  and while seungmin normally would've told him off for being dumb, he was just so exasperated with the biker's actions up to that point that he merely sighed, grabbed his wrist, and yanked him down the road, saying, "we need to get the fuck out of here, stupidass, before you land yourself in jail or something."

and despite their situation, hyunjin still had the audacity to flash him a grin and say, "you really do care after all, huh?"

"...shut up, hwang."

 


	14. YANG JEONGIN, WHAT HAPPENED, AND A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

**WHEN JEONGIN** opened his eyes, he was met with the harsh rays of the sun which caused a dull headache to spread across his forehead. he quickly shut them once more, not prepared to face the blinding light again, and tried to recollect himself.

_where am i? what's going on? what happened?_  a flurry of thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to remember everything.  _i was with chan, and then we went further out, and then i tried to surf on my own and then..._  jeongin struggled to recall anything after that and gave up trying after a short while. he instead focused on using his senses (minus sight, of course, since he wasn't about to burn his eyes out of his sockets) to try and figure out where he was.

he could hear the sound of waves calmly lapping against a shoreline as well as faint hoots and hollers, probably from further out. he slowly stretched out his leg and found— with some surprise— that it touched something gritty and blazing hot.  _that's probably sand,_  he thought,  _so what am i laying on?_ he felt around with one of his hands, eyebrows scrunched in concentration and discovered that he was on something soft and a little bit fuzzy.  _ah. this is a towel._

one of jeongin's arms was starting to go numb since he was laying on his side, so he attempted to shift around to get more comfortable. however, when he tried to roll onto his back, he found that he was stopped by something large and warm.  _what the hell? what is this?_  jeongin thought with slight annoyance and turned his head to face it properly. with great caution, he peeked one eye open, letting his vision adjust before trying to figure out what exactly was preventing him from getting comfortable.

"pale" was the first thing that popped into his head, and after a couple of seconds, he realized that what he was staring at was someone's back.  _huh? what sort of_ ** _creep_** _thought that they had the right to lay down next to me while i slept?_  the biker thought with a frown. but his expression quickly morphed into one of utter shock when his eyes traveled upwards and found a head of messy silver hair right above him.

jeongin couldn't help himself from letting out a little squeak.  _holy fuck chan is sleeping right next to me—_

"he stayed with you the whole time." jeongin nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of a voice sounding out next to him. he flipped back around to see minho sitting next to him on the sand, eyes glued to the ocean.

"'the whole time'?" the younger boy questioned. "what do you mean? wait... minho, what happened?"

the biker closed his eyes and sighed before reopening them, eyes still fixed on the glittering waves. "you were surfing and then a big wave came and you ended up going under. chan dove off his board as soon as it came down and went after you. both of you were underwater for so long that the rest of us thought..." he paused and took a breath. "we thought you were dead, but soon enough he came up with you in his arms. the other surfers immediately swam out and they all carried you to shore. hyunjin, changbin, and i were still out on our boards, so i don't know exactly what happened, but all i know is that chan remained on shore with you while the other three came back out with us and told us not to worry. you were breathing, thankfully, but you got knocked out. i think you got nailed in the head from your board; you've got quite the bruise right below your eye." he lightly poked it and jeongin swatted his hand away.

"that hurt!" he hissed and cupped his face tenderly. minho cracked a small smile, but it dropped almost as soon as it came.

"...i'm so sorry, jeongin," he said, his voice so quiet it could almost be classified as a whisper. he began blinking rapidly, a tic that jeongin had learned signified that he was sad. "when i saw you disappear, i'd never felt so useless in my entire life. i couldn't do anything to save you. instead, i was stuck on my board, unable to move because...well, i can't swim. none of us can." minho shook his head. "we were fools to even come here. this is no place for a biker to be, and you nearly dying further proves that." his blinking slowed and jeongin didn't miss how his stare turned stone cold. "the world of a surfer should not be entered by a biker, and vice versa. what good would it do for either of us?"

jeongin's heart sunk at his friend's words. in all honesty, he really loved spending time with the surfers. every time they had been together had been fun-filled and lively, and it was a fresh splash of colour on the biker's monochrome palette. he felt like he didn't have to pretend around them because he'd be accepted as he was, no matter what.

jeongin had two sides: the one he showed the members of stray souls, which was tough and manly (well, at least to him it was); and the one he hid from everyone else, which was soft and shy. it's the side of him that he tried his best to push down into the darkest depths of his soul, but could never get rid of completely. and yet, when he was with the surfers he felt as if that side of him was being drawn out unintentionally; they just had that effect on him. and even though jeongin was ashamed of that part of him, they never made him feel weird or embarrassed; in fact, it was the exact opposite, and he was grateful to them for that.

_but how can i convince minho that the surfers really aren't that bad?_  minho was always known for being the most stubborn in their friend group. once he had a fixed opinion on something, it took a long time to get him to budge. hyunjin always joked around saying that the reason why he was so quiet was that he was too stuck in his own head to participate in conversations.  _now that i think about it, this is the most that he's ever said in one sitting,_  jeongin mused silently.  _this must be really important to him. if that's the case, it's gonna take a lot more than i originally thought to be able to change his mind. it might take some time, but i'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end._

"but minho," he said quietly, catching the brunette's attention, "not everything about the surfers is all that bad. they're really nice to us and it seems like they care—"

"if they really cared, would they have let you surf by yourself knowing full well that you're just a beginner?"

but jeongin knew exactly how minho's mind worked and was prepared with a quick answer. "they saved my life! if they  _really_  didn't care, they would've let me drown!" emotions began to bubble in his chest as he continued. "besides, you said it yourself: chan went after me as soon as the wave crashed, and the others helped him swim me back to shore. he even stayed by my side while i was unconscious! if all of that plus letting us stay at his house— not to mention feeding us and lending us clothes— doesn't show that chan and his friends care about us, i don't know what does."

minho stared at him wide-eyed. "jeongin, why... why are you doing this?"

jeongin cocked his head to the side. "what? what am i doing?"

"ever since we met them, you've always insisted on sticking with the surfers and giving them a chance. hell, you even tried to meet up with them in  _secret_." he shifted so that he was facing the boy completely. "so why? why do you want to be with them so much? are we, your brothers, not enough for you?"

panic ran through jeongin's veins.  _what do i say? i can't expose myself and tell him about how i've always loved the ocean! god knows what he would say to that! what do i do, what do i do, what do i do..._

thankfully, a sleepy voice from behind him saved the day.

"isn't it obvious?" chan yawned and sat up, stretching his arms tiredly. he faced them, still blinking the drowsiness out of his eyes, a warm smile gracing his lips. "jeongin is growing up. he's not a little kid anymore. he wants to see new things, meet new people, and have new experiences. you can't expect him to be content staying within the gang forever when there's a whole world to explore, especially at his age." he met jeongin's gaze and held it as he continued. "he needs to be given the freedom to do what he wants so that he can learn and discover things he's never known before. if there's something that intrigues or interests him, it's best to let him go towards it rather than withhold him from it. and it's true that he might get hurt along the way, but that's life, isn't it?" his focus switched to minho. "i think bikers would know that more than anyone."

it was silent, the weight of chan's words sinking in. after what seemed like an eternity, minho let out a little sigh and faced the ocean with an unreadable look in his eyes. "i suppose that— in a way— you're right," he spoke. "all i wanted to do was protect jeongin and keep him safe. it wasn't my intention to restrict him from anything or take away his freedom. i just...wanted him to be okay." turning towards his friend, he said, "can you forgive me for that?"

jeongin gave him the brightest smile he could possibly muster. "of course! i could never be mad at you for looking out for me. just...maybe let me do what i want sometimes without being an overprotective mom, please."

minho gave him an exasperated huff. "i do not act like that," he muttered, causing both jeongin and chan to laugh.

_maybe this won't be so difficult after all._   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL WE HIT 4K ON WATTPAD SO THAT MEANS A CHANGLIX SPECIAL IS GOING TO BE WRITTEN!! next chapter will conclude the beach day + be the minsung special :))


	15. [SPECIAL TWO] HAN JISUNG, THE BIKER, AND HOW IT ALL BEGAN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (shameless self-promo once more) y'all should follow my instagram @ breadxtaku for sneak peeks of chapters i'm working on, projects and potential books, and more fun stuff! thanks lol

**HAN JISUNG,**  age nineteen, had mixed feelings as he waved goodbye to the group of bikers later that afternoon, their leather-clad forms disappearing with a roar and a puff of smoke. on one hand, he had been (more or less) happy with the day's events: he talked more with the bikers (well, attempted to); he got to watch hyunjin flirt (much to seungmin's embarrassment); and he got to help minho with his surfing, which was  _totally_  worth the twenty dollars he had given chan earlier as a bribe to set the two up. however, after jeongin got positively  _pummeled_  by a killer wave, minho fell silent until jisung offered to help him paddle back to shore so he could quickly check on the younger boy.

he ended up staying there for the rest of the day.

 _is this a sign, cruel fate?_ jisung thought to himself mournfully.  _are we not destined to be together? will everything continually get in the way of our love?_

"jisung, what's with that stupid look on your face?" seungmin asked, tearing the squirrel-faced boy out of his thoughts.

"i'm trying to be sad, seungmin. let me be sad in peace."

seungmin raised an eyebrow. "why the hell are you sad? you should be happy right now! the bikers are gone, which means that i don't have to suffer through another hour of someone telling me cheesy pick-up lines or finding excuses to touch my abs! we should be celebrating right now!"

"but that's exactly why i'm sad!" jisung groaned, throwing his body onto his friend (who staggered under his weight). "my soul weeps and cries out in longing for one of them! my heart— my poor, aching heart— craves the company and companionship of a man who fate continues to rip out of my clutches! oh, woe is me!"

"is he talking about minho again?" felix laughed, popping up from behind the pair. seungmin nodded, struggling to push jisung off of him. "dude, you're such a creep when it comes to that guy. don't you have, like, pictures of him in your closet?"

"shut up! i do not!" jisung cried, covering his face in embarrassment.

"liar!" seungmin yelled, and jisung sunk further into his hands. "i saw them when i slept over at your house! dude, you're  _obsessed_  with him. he's not even that hot."

felix wiggled his eyebrows. "well, of course you'd say that, seungmin."

the brunette cocked an eyebrow. "and what's that supposed to mean?"

"well, all i'm saying is that minho isn't your type. your type is someone who likes to flirt, has plump lips, and goes by the name hwang hyu—"

felix never got to finish his sentence because seungmin kicked him in the gut. he crumpled to the ground, his friend standing over him, hands on his hips. "what was that, felix? were you saying something?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"n-no."

seungmin snickered before turning to jisung. "anyway, as i was saying, it's weird that you're so obsessed with minho. you two are nothing alike."

"yeah, well, opposites attract!" jisung defended himself. "besides, i've  _seen_  things. i know just how amazingly spectacular he is, even if you guys don't."

felix wheezed from his place on the ground while seungmin just rolled his eyes. "sure, 'sungie," the freckled boy choked out. "i'll believe it when i see it."

jisung stomped his feet childishly. "god, why can't you guys just trust me on this one?" he whined, causing both of them to laugh.

_if only they had been there, they would understand why i like him so much._

☀☀☀

han jisung, age seventeen, ran through the streets of lehua town, rain beating down on his back and soaking through his camouflage tank top.  _what the hell is up with this weather? i thought it was supposed to be sunny all day!_ "shit," he cursed under his breath as the droplets fell harder, and ducked into an alleyway with a slight overhang in order to escape the sudden downpour.

jisung leaned against the stone wall behind him and wrapped his bare arms around himself, shivering.  _i must have the worst luck ever. i don't have a jacket or anything to protect me from this._ he had made plans with some of his buddies to go to the beach and grab some lunch from jyp café afterward, but clearly, fate had other plans for him that day. he pulled his black cap off and shook his head rapidly in a sorry attempt to dry his (newly dyed) purple hair. water sprayed everywhere, only succeeding in making him even colder than he already was.

_god, i would kill someone for a sweater right now._

footsteps echoed from the other side of the alley (it was rather short, so he could hear even the slightest of noises despite the heavy rainfall), and jisung immediately ducked behind a dumpster in fear.  _holy shit, who's that? did they see me? am i gonna die?_  when he poked his head up to see someone wearing a black leather jacket, his heart dropped into his stomach.  _fuck, he's part of that biker gang in town! i really **am**  gonna die today!_

to his relief, the man turned his back on jisung and instead faced a small cardboard box that sat on top of a wooden crate. this allowed the surfer to get a better look at the design on the back of his jacket: a white crescent moon with the words "lee know" printed above it.  _lee know? is that his name?_  jisung thought, craning his neck to try and see his face, but to no avail. he watched as the man pulled a small striped bundle from inside his jacket and slowly opened the box. a chorus of meows sounded soon after.

 _oh my god, are those cats? is he going to torture those poor souls?_  jisung was about to shakily stand up and say something when the mysterious biker unwrapped the bundle and small pieces of cat food spilled out.

_...he's taking care of them?_

the biker reached a hand into the box and brought out a small white cat, its fur matted with rain and dirt. he pulled out two more before moving the box to a spot against the wall that got less rain than the rest of the alleyway. he set the bundle of cat food down and the cats quickly scampered over to it, devouring it with small bites. as they did so, the biker removed his leather jacket, revealing a bright orange sweater underneath, which he also removed (jisung was about to avert his eyes until he saw that he was wearing a black t-shirt underneath). he placed the sweater inside of the box, lining it as best as he could, before returning his attention to the tiny creatures before him. he patted each on the head with delicate care and crouched down, using his leather jacket to shield them from the rain as they ate.

jisung couldn't believe his eyes. he had always thought that the town's biker gang was filled with buff muscleheads that only cared about picking up chicks and getting into fights, but this guy was different. he seemed a bit softer than all the others jisung had met, and actually had a heart of gold rather than a heart of stone. heck, he was literally standing in the pouring rain for no other reason than to protect some cats! it was the sweetest thing the surfer had ever seen in his whole life; even sweeter than the time seungmin gave him flowers instead of punches for his sixteenth birthday.

jisung's legs were getting sore from being in a half-standing half-squatting position for a while, so he slowly moved to stretch. however, at that moment, a cockroach scuttled past him, and he jumped up in fright. "ah!" he cried out, causing the biker's head to snap in his direction. "shit! uh..." he reached out an arm, but before he could move, the man scooped up the cats in his jacket and bolted away into the thick haze of rain. "wait! i'm— fuck." jisung sighed, his rain-soaked body wilting a bit.  _damn, i didn't even get his name or anything. i guess i'll never see him ever again._  

it was then that his eye caught a glimpse of bright orange: the sweater the mysterious man had put in the cardboard box. jisung bent down, picking up the article of clothing and turning it over in his hands. despite the rain beating down on his back, a small smile crept onto his face. he had a lead; he had a clue. that biker piqued his interest, and now jisung was determined to find him. his heart beat a little faster at the thought of seeing him again, although he wouldn't realize why until much, much later. to be precise, one year, two months, and three hundred and fifteen blurry pictures later.

_i guess destiny really did have different plans for me after all._


	16. YANG JEONGIN, NONI STREET, AND A NEW LOOK

**"AFTER THAT**  stunt you pulled yesterday, you have lost all your privileges," changbin declared during breakfast the next morning. "from now on, you're never leaving our sides. say goodbye to your independence, kid."

jeongin groaned but said nothing more as he munched on his pizza pockets. he wanted to protest but couldn't deny that he was in the wrong for not telling his friends about his plans and blatantly breaking the biggest rule that the stray souls had. plus, he almost got himself killed, which could have been avoided if he just hadn't gone at all.

"fine," he muttered with his mouth full. "just  _please_  tell me we're not going grocery shopping. that's lame."

"nope!" hyunjin grinned. "today we're going to noni street!"

jeongin immediately sat up, interest swimming through his veins. "wait, noni?  _really?"_

noni street was one of jeongin's favourite places in lehua town (second only to the beach). it was a seaside shopping district that tourists and locals often visited due to its variety of shops and its quick pathway to one of lehua's smaller beaches. a few shops there were "district nine", an apparel store with clothes that ranged from pastel crop tops to muscle tees; "rock", the most prestigious (and expensive) jewelry store in town; "glow", the twenty-four-hour convenience store; "boxer", a gym that was primarily overrun with the members of stray souls; "mirror", a beauty parlor that hyunjin spent quite a bit of time at; and "jyp café", the best (and only) restaurant in town.

"yeah." hyunjin ran a hand through his brown locks (jeongin never understood how it stayed so smooth all the time, even after he woke up). "i've gotta get my hair cut so i can get back to my princely beauty. i'm starting to grow a mullet, and i'm pretty sure that my man isn't gonna fall for me if i start looking like a chick."

changbin spat out his juice. "wait, your new target is a  _guy?"_

hyunjin shrugged. "yeah. and?"

"no, nothing, it's just..." the shorter boy shifted uncomfortably. "i didn't know you were into men. i mean, it's fine with me, but you might wanna be careful about who you tell that to..."

hyunjin leaned back in his chair nonchalantly. "well, in my eyes, beauty is beauty, no matter the gender. if the rest of the gang is against it, they can suck my dick." he cocked an eyebrow. "anyway, i thought you knew this already. i literally told you yesterday, and you  _saw_  me flirting."

"i thought you were just being a bro! you do that shit with us all the time!"

"yeah, but with you guys, it's a 'no homo' thing. with seungmin, it's an 'all homo' thing."

"wait, you like that  _rat?"_

as hyunjin opened his mouth to defend his (self-proclaimed) future boyfriend, jeongin piped up. "um, can i go to mirror with you? i was thinking about changing my hair..."

hyunjin and changbin's bickering immediately ceased at their friend's request. "of course!" the brunette chirped, pinching the younger boy's cheek (much to jeongin's displeasure). what kind of look do you have in mind?"

"um... i wanted to try dyeing it."

the other two gasped and minho's fork clattered against his plate. "our baby is growing up!" hyunjin screeched and leaped across the table to tackle jeongin in a big hug. "changbin, minho, he's finally becoming an adult! first he's gonna change his hair, then he's gonna get a tattoo, then—"

"alright, alright, stop imposing your stupid dreams on him," changbin said with an eye roll as he pulled the pair apart. "it's great that you're starting to break out of your norms a bit, kid, but it's so unlike you to want to do this sort of thing that i have to ask: why?"

jeongin was silent for a moment as he tried to think of a good answer. it's true that he would have never even  _considered_  doing something like dyeing his hair before; but then again, lately he had been doing a lot of things he never thought he would. he was, for the most part, someone who tried not to do anything impulsive or drastic since his goal was to be under the radar, so dyeing his hair would go against everything he had worked towards all these years. people would stare. people would notice. people would  _see_.

_but that's what i want. i want someone to see me._

"i guess i just wanna try something new," he responded, and changbin nodded in approval.

"i'm proud of you, i.n. should we get going?"

the two males across from him nodded excitedly, and he turned his head to find minho cleaning up everyone's dirty dishes and shrugging on his leather jacket. changbin grinned at the elder, taking his nonverbal cues as a sign that he wanted to go too.

"well then, let's ride, boys."

 

**☀☀☀  
**

 

jeongin had only been inside of mirror a few times, so he was thankful to have hyunjin with him that day. his friend was a frequent customer, going in at least three times a week for beauty tips or to flirt with the female workers there, but it was clear that today he was on a mission when he marched inside without so much as a wink towards the lady at the cash register. "i'll make it quick: one haircut for me and one hair dyeing for my friend. get me your best employee for him— he only deserves the best— and my usual for me." he slapped down a few dollar bills, saying, "keep the change," before plopping down in one of the salon's chairs.

 _he's acting like he owns the place or something,_  jeongin thought with a snort. "i'm so sorry, he's—" he stopped with he saw the starstruck look on the worker's face.  _man, he's got everyone here wrapped around his finger, huh? it must be nice to have someone fall in love with you with just one glance._ a face popped in his mind, but he quickly shoved the thought down when a man approached him.

"are you hyunjin's friend?" he asked, and jeongin had to force himself to maintain eye contact with him. not only was the worker intimidating as hell, but he was also absolutely  _beautiful._  the seriousness in his gaze only emphasized that, and it was a bit too much for the young biker's poor, gay heart. at the same time, recognition tugged at his brain.  _why do i feel like i've seen him before?_

"yeah..." he said shyly. the man nodded and began walking over to one of the chairs near the back; jeongin quickly followed after realizing that he was meant to follow.

"my name is jinyoung," he spoke, and it was then that jeongin realized who he was. for the longest time, hyunjin wouldn't shut up about some guy named "park jinyoung" who he had seen during one of his visits to mirror. he gushed on and on about how well he styled hair and how he was clearly the best in the salon. then, one day, hyunjin got the opportunity to get his hair done by him, but he never requested him ever again.

"why?" jeongin remembered asking once.

hyunjin had shaken his head, a melancholic look in his eyes. "his aura... just being around him was too great of an honor. i'm not worthy of sitting in his presence." he threw an arm across his face dramatically. "but oh, how one can dream!"

 _he's probably super jealous right now,_  jeongin thought. sure enough, when he turned his head, he saw hyunjin staring at him, jaw practically on the floor. the employee in front of him waved her hand in front of his face with a look of confusion, and jeongin had to bite back a laugh.

"sit here." jinyoung's firm voice snapped the biker to attention and he quickly scrambled into the chair the worker was gesturing to. "what colours were you considering today?"

"um..." jeongin hesitated, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "i was thinking about red, but i don't really know..."

jinyoung made a noise of approval. "if done well, red would actually suit your complexion nicely. however, one wrong move, and you could end up looking like a tomato with legs." he took a few strands of jeongin's hair in hand. "but i won't do that to you. i mean, i  _could,_  but i won't."

_is... is he joking? i really can't tell..._

as if he could hear his thoughts, jinyoung gave a small chuckle and patted him on the shoulder. "lighten up, kid. i'm just playing around. trust me, i'll make sure you look good, or the appointment's on me." with a flourish, he pulled a floral-print salon cape from out of nowhere and promptly clasped it around jeongin's neck. "i'm mirror's best for a reason. plus, any friend of hwang hyunjin can be sure they'll get stellar treatment from me. he's one of the few people i don't mind seeing nearly every day."

as the appointment began, jeongin made a mental note to tell hyunjin that later on.

 

**☀** **☀** **☀**

 

hyunjin's haircut finished early, so he left to go shopping, periodically checking in on him with snacks (and to show off whatever new clothes he had bought). when he returned at the end of the appointment, he nearly dropped the large soda he was holding. his eyes were as wide as saucers, and jeongin wanted to shrink back in embarrassment. "innie...you look..."

"weird?" the younger covered his face with his hands. "oh, i knew it! i never should've done this! it was stupid of me to think this would be a good idea—"

suddenly, hyunjin materialized next to him and smacked him on the head. "no, dumbass! you look all grown up! my... _my baby is all grown up!"_

his voice was wavering, and when jeongin removed his hands from his face, he saw that his friend was on the brink of tears. "oh my god, you're so dramatic," the younger groaned, his ears turning pink. but he couldn't deny the spark of happiness in his chest at hyunjin's words— after all, his friend was  _extremely_  fashion-conscious, so if he thought it looked good, then it must be.

 _it's red,_ he thought, facing the mirror in front of him,  _but not **too**  red. it's bright, but not  **too**  bright. it's different, but...it's nice.  **really**  nice._

"thank you so much, jinyoung," he grinned. "you really  _are_  mirror's best for a reason."

the man gave a soft smile. "of course. it's what i do. now, if you'll excuse me, i must get back to work." with those words he left to tend to another customer who had just entered the salon. 

the pair of bikers stood in silence for a moment before hyunjin finally spoke. "...so, why'd you do it?"

"huh?" jeongin asked, confused. "do what?"

"don't play dumb," his friend said. "i've known you for years, and doing something spontaneous— something that will bring attention to you— is something that you'd never do." he took a sip of his soda. "it's a girl, isn't it?"

if jeongin had anything in his mouth, he would've spat it out in shock.  _"what?_ _"_

"trust me, man, i  _know_  things. shy guys like you don't just  _do_  stuff— they do it to catch some chick's eye." he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and jeongin wanted to die on the spot. "so, who is it? who's the lucky girl you're trying to seduce?"

"it's— it's not like that! there is no girl!"

"oh, so it's a guy?" hyunjin asked, tilting his head to the side innocently, and while jeongin wanted to refute, he found that the words were lodged in his throat.

"i-i..."  _what's wrong with me? why can't i tell him he's wrong?_

hyunjin squealed and clapped his hands excitedly. "ooh, i was right! you're trying to land yourself a man, just like me!" he clasped jeongin's shoulders in a tight grip. "let me guess: you're going after one of those surfers, aren't you?"

"w-what? no!" but it was too late, as hyunjin had already decided to stop listening. instead, he pranced around the salon with glee, throwing his arms in the air. "hyu—"

"innie's growing up! innie's growing up!" the biker cheered, and jeongin ran a hand down his face exasperatedly.  _oh my god, he's such an idiot..._

however, there was a little voice in the back of jeongin's head that kept nagging at him long after they had left, even when the four of them were riding home.  _he's right, you know,_  the voice said, and no matter how hard he tried to push the thought down, he couldn't deny the truth of it.  _you're doing this because of **him**. you just want his attention, don't you?_

 _shut up, brain,_  jeongin thought.  _yeah, maybe hyunjin was right. i **am**  doing this because of a guy. so what? that doesn't mean anything. it doesn't mean anything at all. no more thinking about it. the end. done._

he was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't look at the sea once during their drive home.


	17. [SPECIAL THREE] SEO CHANGBIN, THE FRECKLED BOY, AND THE PINK SWEATER DILEMMA

**SEO CHANGBIN** , age twenty and a half, was not planning on spending all his savings at district nine the day he went to noni street. however, when he passed by and saw a skull muscle tee in the window, he knew he had to have it.

 

"minho, i think i'm gonna spend a couple of minutes in here," he said to his friend, who was casually strolling alongside him. the brunette simply nodded and continued on his way to who-knows-where— changbin didn't bother to ask, as he had already disappeared inside.

 

the best thing about district nine was the vastness of it. it was _humongous_ and had just about every style you could think of: dark and emo, soft pastels, bright neon, and more. what was even better was that it was easy to navigate. for instance, instead of spending an hour looking for flannels in the midst of all the other clothes in there, changbin could just walk up to the giant wall that held all of the flannel jackets in the store and choose the one that he wanted.

 

he immediately went to the section in the back where the edgier clothes were kept and spotted the muscle tee he had seen in the window. however, there was a problem.

 

it was just out of reach.

 

on most occasions, changbin didn't let his height stop him from doing anything. although it was true he was much smaller than most men his age, it didn't make him any less intimidating; all he had to do was fix people with one of his signature glares and they would cower in fear. however, the fact of the matter was that he was short, and short people weren't able to perform certain activities; for example, reaching the top shelf in every store on noni street.

 

 _who the fuck allowed this?_ he thought angrily, withdrawing his arm when he realized that his efforts to reach it were futile. _the tallness of these shelves should be illegal. whoever designed them can suck a dick._

 

changbin was growing desperate. he really wanted that shirt, so much so that he was willing to risk his dignity for it. he quickly looked around him to make sure that nobody was nearby before facing the shelf again. _c'mon, changbin. this might be humiliating, but at least you're gonna look hella ripped in that shirt._ so, swallowing his pride, changbin squatted slightly...

 

...and jumped.

 

and jumped.

 

and jumped.

 

"why the hell isn't this working?" he seethed after his fourth time jumping. he was sure he looked ridiculous— after all, he was a tiny guy hopping in place and waving his arms trying to reach a goddamn shirt— and that just fueled the fire within him.

 

 _fuck this bullshit!_ he thought, and prepared himself to jump higher than ever before. he shook out his limbs, squatted low, and...

 

"need some help?"

 

changbin whipped his head around to find a familiar brunette smiling at him, a glint of amusement in his eyes. _lee felix._ he was one of the surfers that jeongin had befriended, though changbin couldn't for the life of him figure out why. the freckled boy was a nuisance. he was constantly laughing and smiling and radiating light; it was far too much for changbin to handle. when he had been stuck with him the day prior, it was _exhausting_ , and he ranted about everything to minho on the way home: how felix broke all of his boundaries; how felix never left him alone; and how felix had casually called him "binnie" as if they were longtime buddies or something. changbin was extremely irritated when he went to bed that night, but felt better when he remembered that the next day would be completely free of surfers.

 

or so he thought.

 

"what the hell do you want?" the biker growled. he hated looking foolish in front of people more than anything else in the world and quickly fought to cover up his embarrassment in the form of a dark glare.

 

felix's smile dropped but reappeared a millisecond later as if it had never left. "well, i saw someone struggling, so naturally, i came over to help." changbin watched as the freckled boy reached above his head, grabbed the shirt with ease, and held it out to him. "i didn't think it'd be you, though."

 

changbin snatched the shirt out of his hands and narrowed his eyes. "i didn't need help. i was doing perfectly fine on my own."

 

felix laughed. it was a bright and hearty sound. "sure, bin—" his eyes widened. "uh, changbin."

 

the biker didn't miss his slip up, and his eyes narrowed even further. "i thought i told you not to call me that," he muttered, shouldering past him and stalking off. where to? he had no idea. he just wanted to get away from the surfer.

 

however, a factor he didn't consider was that his legs were short— much shorter than felix's— so it didn't take long before the other boy caught up to him. "wait— changbin!" he laughed. "i'm sorry! come back!"

 

"no." changbin picked up the pace, weaving in and out of clothing racks in an attempt to throw felix off his trail. _why is this kid so insistent on annoying me?_

 

"i don't get why you don't like it," felix said as changbin swerved around a girl talking on the phone. "it suits you so well!"

 

"it's too cute. it ruins my image."

 

"what's wrong with being cute?"

 

"everything!" changbin snapped. when no response was heard, he turned his head to find that felix was nowhere to be seen. he frowned in confusion. _what the hell? where did he go? wait— why should i care? he's gone, and that's what's important._ however, worry sparked in the corner of his mind. _maybe he got lost? the kid's a dumbass, after all. should i call for him? nah, that's stupid. he probably saw one of his friends and ditched me._ changbin's frown deepened and he began walking away. _yeah, that's probably it. i don't blame him. he'd be happier hanging out with someone who wasn't such a dick._

 

changbin paused to leaf through a rack of jeans when he heard footsteps rapidly approaching. at first, he didn't think about it and paid no mind, but when he heard a familiar deep voice yelling out his name, he quickly looked up.

 

"fe—" the freckled boy crashed into him before he could finish calling his name and wrapped his arms around him. "what the f—"

 

"i finally found you!" the surfer laughed, releasing the older male, who had gone stock-still under his touch. "i was looking all over for you! i was wondering where you went."

 

changbin's eyebrow rose. "i thought you had gone with your friends or something."

 

"huh?" felix looked confused. "why would you think that? i just stopped because i found some clothes that looked really cute."

 

a small bubble of satisfaction rose in changbin's chest. _so he didn't ditch me for someone else after all_. "i see."

 

"speaking of seeing, wanna see what i picked out for you?" felix asked. "i saw it and thought you would look really good in it, so i bought it!"

 

"you got me something?" changbin couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice as felix dug through his bag. he hardly received gifts since his friends were all little shits, so having someone just get something for him out of the blue was rather unexpected.

 

"yup!" felix said, and whipped the article of clothing out of his bag. "ta-da!"

 

changbin went silent. no expression was visible on his face as he stared at the gift felix had bought him. after about a minute of solid staring, he finally spoke.  "...felix?"

 

"yes?"

 

"what in god's name possessed you to think that i would ever in my whole life wear a _light pink sweater?"_

 

"nothing! that's exactly why i bought it!" changbin immediately fixated him with a look that said are you shitting me which caused his smile to widen even further. "no, for real! you guys in the stray souls never wear anything unless it's black, grey, or dark white."

 

"dark white isn't even a—"

 

"so, i took it upon myself to broaden your clothing horizons!" he shoved the sweater into the biker's arms. "trust me, you'll look _amazing_ in it. i already know."

 

"no way! i don't want this!" changbin objected, scrunching up his face in disgust. "i hate pink! and sweaters! i'm returning this."

 

felix suddenly pulled out his phone from his back pocket. "oops, someone's calling me!" he laughed. changbin hadn't heard a ring. "hm? channie? you want me to come over immediately? okay, if you say so!" he removed his phone from his ear and pressed the screen (which was dark), saying, "boop!"

 

"hang on, you weren't—"

 

felix (for what felt like the hundredth time that day) cut him off. "sorry, changbin, i'd love to stay and chat, but i've got to go. guess you're stuck with that sweater!" before the biker could protest, he promptly sprinted away, shouting, "no take-backs! no returns! you'd better keep it!"

 

"hey!" the shorter boy called, but it was too late: felix was gone. he sighed, glancing at the pink monstrosity in his hands. _well, i guess i could take it home and burn it or something. yeah, that sounds good._

 

but when he got home later that day and bid farewell to his friends who all left to go do their own thing, he found himself sitting on his bed staring once more at the sweater in his hands.

 

_what is wrong with you, changbin? stop being so nice and get rid of it! you normally have no problem doing stuff like that! why are you suddenly being soft?_

 

as he was having an internal debate with himself, his door creaked open. "changbin? can you— wait, what's in your arms?"

 

changbin's eyes widened and he whipped around to find jeongin standing at the door. "jeongin, get the fuck out!" he cried, scrambling to hide the sweater under his blanket. he heard the younger boy stutter out an apology, and his door quickly slammed shut.

 

changbin sighed and slumped down onto his bed. _that was a bit harsh,_ he thought. _maybe i should apologize. i can't be rude to jeongin, anyway— he's our little baby._

 

"jeongin?" he called, and almost immediately the door opened just a crack. “...wait, were you just waiting out there for me to call you back in?”

 

“i knew you’d want to apologize.”

 

changbin rolled his eyes as jeongin entered the room wearing a cheeky grin. “you little shit. you know me so well.” he cuffed the younger boy around the neck and ruffled his hair despite his whines of protest. “you’re lucky. you’re the only one i’d be caught dead apologizing to.”

 

jeongin laughed. “that’s because you’re too proud! i know you think it’s lame, but you should give into your softer side once in a while.”

 

“i don’t have...” changbin trailed off when a thought popped into his head. “wait, jeongin, i have something important to ask.”

 

“what is it?” the freshly-dyed redhead asked, sliding out of his arm and onto the bed.

 

 _i can’t believe i’m doing this._ “uh... well, if someone gives you something but you really, really hate it, do you throw it away or still keep it?”

 

jeongin shrugged. “i would still keep it. it would be rude to throw it away.”

 

“but you don’t understand,” changbin continued. “normally i— uh, i mean, the hypothetical person in this situation— would have no problem burning it. but now the person is conflicted, which isn’t like them at all.” the male stared at his lap, shame creeping through him. he felt so vulnerable in front of jeongin, and he _hated_ it. however, jeongin was the only one who had seen every side to him— not just the tough exterior he displayed in front of everyone else— so he trusted in the fact that the younger wouldn’t judge.

 

jeongin was silent for a moment. “changbin,” he stated slowly, “do you have a crush on someone?”

 

“are you asking to get punched?”

 

jeongin waved him arms frantically. “no! it’s just that sometimes people begin to change themselves when they like someone. i was just wondering.” he peered at changbin. “so, do you?”

 

“in the twenty years i’ve been alive, i’ve only ever liked one person, and it was someone i’d known for years,” changbin deadpanned. “i don’t think i’m gonna start liking someone i’ve only known for four days.”

 

jeongin nodded slightly. “understandable. well, do you know why were they giving you a gift?”

 

“...no,” changbin responded, glossing over the fact that he had just openly admitted to the “hypothetical person” being him. “they were just doing it to...be nice, maybe? i dunno.”

 

jeongin hummed. “well, if they were doing it out of the kindness of their heart, i’d say to keep the gift. giving someone something for no reason other than they wanted to is very meaningful. you wouldn’t normally give someone a gift out of the blue, right?” changbin shook his head. “exactly. it would be extremely rude to disregard their feelings. i’d say to keep it.”

 

changbin’s eyes drifted to his dark sheets where the sweater lay hidden underneath it. “...even if i hate it?”

 

“even if you hate it.”

 

changbin groaned. “fine. thanks for your help. now get out.” he quickly shooed the younger out of his room and pulled the pink sweater out from its hiding place. _i guess it does look kind of nice,_ he thought, _although it doesn’t suit me at all._

he sighed and walked to his wardrobe. _whatever. he was being nice, so i guess i’ll keep it._ he ran his hand down the soft sleeve before hanging it up. _it’s kinda funny. it’s the one splash of colour in the middle of all this dark._ the pink stood out so much that it looked ridiculous among the black clothes that changbin owned, and he couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth twitch up ever so slightly at the sight of it.

but then he noticed something. peering closer, the biker’s eyes widened a bit as he thought to himself:

 

_wait, how the hell did he know my size?_

 

 


	18. HAN JISUNG, THE DIMPLED BIKER, AND A SECRET

**JISUNG SLAMMED** his glass down on the counter with hooded eyes and empty expression. "gimme a refill and stat," he ordered the employee working behind the counter, who simply raised an eyebrow in response.

 

"jisung, why are you acting like you're at a bar? this is a family-friendly all-ages café, for god's sake," woojin said, shaking his head and taking the glass.

 

"woojin, i'm here to drink away my problems, so please humor me for one second," jisung groaned, unhappy that his "cool guy" demeanor was shattered by his friend.

 

"you're literally drinking apple juice."

 

"shut up!"

 

jisung was not having a very good day. when he woke up, he decided to take his secret box of photos out of his closet to admire the numerous pictures of minho he had taken in the past (although they were all too blurry to really see anything). however, he made the mistake of drinking soda while he was doing so and ended up spilling the drink over every single photo.

 

needless to say, he was _devastated_.

 

jisung decided to head over to jyp café where he could wash his despair down using the café's unlimited refill policy and rant about what had happened to his longtime friend, woojin, who was working that day. as soon as he stepped inside wearing his "i-want-to-die" face, woojin sat him down and listened to his story.

 

it took jisung six glasses of apple juice to finally feel better. when he finished his eleventh glass (at that point he was just doing it to annoy woojin), he rose from his seat and bid his friend goodbye. but as he was making his way to the door, a familiar face caught his eye and he froze in his tracks.

 

"jeongin?" he exclaimed, and the dimpled biker looked up from his phone to see the surfer staring at him wide-eyed. the boy beamed, his braces shining.

 

"jisung!"

 

the two embraced each other, their smiles the brightest things in the room. "you look good, dude!" jisung complimented, patting the younger on the back. "who knew that you'd be able to rock red hair?" jeongin laughed shyly. "seriously, man, you look _hella_ cool."

 

jeongin thanked him, pink dusting his cheeks. "what're you doing over here? i've never seen you in the café before."

 

"uh..." jisung really didn't want to tell him that he came here to sob over one of the biker's best friends— that would be weird. "just...hanging out. chilling. you know, what surfers do."

 

thankfully, it looked like jeongin believed him. "cool! i'm just here to grab some food to bring back home to my friends. you wanna wait with me? it shouldn't take too long." the biker's eyes shifted downwards. "i mean, only if you _want_ to. it's fine if you don't. i'd understand."

 

jisung smiled at jeongin's shyness. it was a nice change of pace to see a biker that wasn't super threatening or unnecessarily rude towards others. _well, besides minho, at least_. "sure! i'd love to keep you company, anyway." he took a seat at the small table and leaned back comfortably.

 

"um...jisung? there's actually something i've been wondering for a while..." jisung's eyebrow arched when he took note of the way that jeongin's fingers twiddled nervously. "it might be kind of personal, though."

 

jisung shrugged nonchalantly. "ask away, man."

 

"do you...do you have a thing for minho?"

 

if the surfer were drinking something, he would've spat it out in shock. _holy shit. how did he figure it out?_ his speechlessness seemed to prove a sufficient answer to jeongin because he broke out into a devilish grin and clapped. "i knew it! oh man, this is so good!"

 

when jisung finally regained his composure, he sputtered out, "how— what—"

 

jeongin giggled. "when i first met you, chan said something about burning your photos of minho. then, later that night, you were staring at him a lot and trying to get close to him. and at the beach, you guys were paired up together! i just sort of put two and two together, i guess." he paused. "also, chan told me."

 

_what a rat!_ jisung mentally wrung chan's neck for exposing him. _how could he tell jeongin my biggest secret? wait a second..._

 

"hang on." jisung jabbed a finger into jeongin's chest. "when did you and chan get so chummy with each other? you guys met, like, five days ago."

 

jeongin fell silent. "um... well, we text a lot and stuff..."

 

there was clearly something that he wasn't telling jisung, and the surfer was determined to figure it out. _chan is one of the driest texters i've ever met_ , he mused to himself, _and yet somehow they've grown close by texting each other. so that means chan is actually putting in the effort. but why? he never puts in that kind of effort with me, seungmin, or felix. so jeongin must be special to him..._

 

he gasped. "jeongin," he said, "are you and chan _dating?"_

 

jeongin choked on air and flushed bright red. "n-no!" he stammered. "we... we don't have that kind of relationship!"

 

jisung pouted. as much as he teased chan about his friendship with the younger boy, he really did want to see them together. they were adorable and— in his eyes— _totally_ a perfect match. a biker and a surfer; two star-crossed lovers are drawn to each other even though their social norms attempt to pull them apart! it was brilliant! and awfully cliché! but jisung was a sucker for clichés, so he loved it.

 

"that's a shame," he sighed. "you guys would look super cute together."

 

jeongin looked confused. "i thought chan wasn't into guys?" at that, jisung burst out laughing, and his blush grew— this time, out of embarrassment. "what?"

 

"chan is bi, yet he's gayer than me," jisung wheezed. "trust me, he's about as straight as a bendy ruler. where did you get that idea from?"

 

jeongin shrugged, but jisung didn't miss the small smile that appeared on his face. "nowhere. i was just wondering."

 

curiosity bloomed in jisung. "wait, jeongin, do you like—"

 

of course, at that moment their waiter chose to appear. "your order, sir!" he chirped, holding out multiple paper bags that seemed to be stuffed to the brim. "have a wonderful day!"

 

"thank you." jeongin accepted the food with a gracious smile before turning to jisung. "what were you saying?"

 

"it's nothing." jisung felt foolish for attempting to ask such a personal question in the first place. jeongin's sexual preference was for him to know, and if he felt comfortable enough to share that with anyone, then it was his choice. jisung would wait until he was ready to reveal that; he wouldn't ask and potentially put him in an awkward situation.

 

"if you say so," jeongin said, and rose from his seat to leave. "thank you for waiting with me, jisung! it was really nice seeing you again. and don't worry—" he winked with a sly smile— "i won't tell minho about your little crush."

 

jisung's face felt hotter than the sahara desert. "you better not!" he whined, slapping the biker on the shoulder, receiving a laugh in return.

 

"okay, okay. i'd better go before my friends start blowing up my phone. bye-bye, jisung!" jeongin attempted to wave with his arms full of bags before turning away and making his way to the exit. however, right as he was leaving, jisung pulled out his phone and snapped a quick photo of the boy before he could disappear from his sight. he grinned, happy that for once a picture of his didn't come out blurry.

 

 

 

**jisung: [photo sent]**

**look who i ran**

**into today 👀**

 

**_channie is typing..._ **


	19. BANG CHAN, QUESTIONABLE CONVERSATION, AND A CASE OF DÉJÀ VU

**TWO WEEKS.**

two long, strenuous weeks.

that's how much time passed before they saw each other again.

chan's eyes immediately zeroed in on him as soon as he entered jyp café that morning with the intent of making a quick stop for breakfast before heading out. it wasn't hard to spot him, even amongst the café's filled tables and the large crowd. he was sitting amongst his leather-jacket clad friends and eating pancakes with vigor, laughing at something they were saying. his hair made him stick out like a sore thumb— a sore, adorable, attractive thumb.

the surfer had mentally prepared himself for this moment. he constantly stared at the photo jisung had sent him, studying every little detail he could and committing each strand of hair to memory. he was sure that he'd be fine if they ever ran into each other again. however, as he found out that morning, jisung's picture hardly did him justice. he was...

"beautiful," chan breathed out just as jeongin's eyes met his.

"channie!" almost instantaneously, the heads of his three friends whipped around from where they were seated on the table. their expressions reminded chan of a predator sizing up its prey: deadly. it was as if they were telling him  _don't come over here or we'll rip you to shreds._  he gulped and tried to pretend like he didn't hear jeongin's voice calling his name, but it was too late, for the boy had already leaped out of his seat and bounded over to him.

as soon as he felt the younger's arms wrap around him, his brain short-circuited and he froze. he wasn't sure if he was supposed to hug back or not— was he even  _allowed_  to? judging by the menacing stares the bikers were giving him, he wasn't, but just as he was about to push himself away he heard jeongin's voice softly say: "i missed you."

 _screw it,_ chan thought, wrapping his arms around the younger.  _if this is how i die, at least i'll go out smiling._

after a while, chan could feel the other bikers burning holes into his back with their glares, so he forced himself to pull away; not too far, though. "i missed you too," he murmured, causing a smile to grace jeongin's face. chuckling, he added, "however, it doesn't seem like your friends missed me that much."

jeongin turned around and his friends quickly averted their eyes, pretending like they weren't staring at them. the redhead laughed, and chan didn't realize until then how much he longed to hear it. "ah, don't mind them. they're over what happened a couple of weeks ago, but they're still pretty wary around surfers. they won't even let me go anywhere by myself anymore!" he huffed, which chan found rather cute. "it's annoying. i'm eighteen! i should be out doing whatever i want, not be dragged around everywhere like i'm some sort of kid!"

chan laughed, and the anxiety in his chest eased. he had been worried that jeongin's friends hated him after what happened two weeks ago, so it brought him a bit of comfort knowing that they were acting strangely simply because that's what bikers did.

 _they're just being normal,_ he thought,  _like nothing ever happened. no sleepover. no beach day. no memories at all. we're back to square one. ...why does that make me sad?_

chan blinked when he realized that jeongin was staring at him expectantly. "sorry, did you say something? i zoned out for a bit," the surfer said sheepishly.

jeongin looked down at his hands and began playing with his fingers. "um... i asked if you wanted to sit and eat with us? i don't think i'll be able to finish all of my food and i don't want it to go to waste... plus, it'd be good to catch up since we haven't seen each other in a while."

 _he's so shy!_  chan thought and fought to conceal his grin. "i'd love to, but what about your friends? i kinda get the feeling that they want me to leave." he glanced at them to find the three males trying (and failing) to spy on them inconspicuously. he bit back a laugh at their antics. "i also get the feeling that we're being spied on."

jeongin giggled. "don't worry about them, chan! just come on." without another word, chan was promptly dragged to the bikers' table and plopped down in an extra chair where jeongin informed his friends that chan would be joining them for breakfast.

"hey, guys," he greeted as an awkward tension settled over the table. changbin was glaring at him as he stabbed a piece of sausage; hyunjin was eyeing him with an unreadable look while pouring an unhealthy amount of syrup onto his waffles; and minho— well, he just pulled out a book and began reading.

after eating in silence for what felt like forever, chan opened his mouth to ask minho what he was reading when hyunjin spoke. "yo, chan. do surfers like to get laid?"

changbin's eyes grew larger than his plate. jeongin choked on a strip of bacon. even minho paused mid-page flip.

chan blinked. "uh... what?"

"you heard me." hyunjin stole a grape off of jeongin's plate and popped it into his mouth. "do surfers like to get laid?"

 _how can he say things like that so nonchalantly?_  "well, i guess it depends on the person," he said, struggling to fight the blush creeping up his neck.

"well, what about  _you_ , then? do you like getting laid?"

chan wanted to crawl into a hole and die. this was probably the most embarrassing conversation he'd ever had in his entire life. he had no idea what he was supposed to say— yes? no? he'd had sex a couple of times in the past but neither time was particularly good; however, maybe he just hadn't met the right person yet.

chan didn't know what to do, so he went for the safest option he could think of. "uh... why?"

hyunjin leaned forward, a mischievous smirk on his face. "well, i'm glad you asked. i'm trying to seduce a surfer and i need to figure out if the best way to their heart is through my hands or through my dick."

 _both of those things have_ ** _very_** _questionable connotations,_  chan thought just as changbin said, "aren't those basically the same thing?"

hyunjin smacked him on the head. "no, idiot! by 'my hands' i meant my  _actions_. you know, like getting him flowers and stuff. and by 'my dick' i meant—"

"okay! i think we get it," chan quickly interrupted. "well, i know just about every surfer in town. if you tell me who it is, i think i could help you out."

the bikers all exchanged glances as if they were having a silent discussion. changbin shook his head slightly, but when jeongin sent him a pleading look, he stopped (although he didn't look too happy about it). when hyunjin glanced at minho, all he did was give the handsome male a slow blink, but apparently, that proved to be enough as hyunjin nodded and faced chan.

"it's seungmin," he stated, and chan's jaw dropped. he was confident that he'd know whoever it was, but he didn't think it'd be one of his closest friends! suddenly the events of the beach day clicked in his head.  _no wonder he was so willing to go to my house with seungmin! god, why am i so blind?_

then, another thought popped in his head.  _wait... if i can get hyunjin and seungmin to date each other, maybe it'll be enough to end the years of hatred between the bikers and surfers! and it might also be an opportunity to get closer to his group of friends! i'm a genius!_

"oh! well..." chan swallowed dryly. "um, seungmin isn't the kind of guy who likes to take things fast, you know? it might take some time for him to open up to you before you guys...uh..."

"fuck?" hyunjin helpfully supplied, and from out of nowhere, a fork flew through the air and stabbed the table in front of him. the biker yelped in fear. "wait, what the—"

"i won't hesitate!" a voice from the kitchen screeched, and hyunjin immediately shut his mouth.

"um... yeah," chan chuckled nervously. "what you said. you'd have to treat him well and show him that he can trust you. a good tip is that he likes small, subtle things rather than big, flashy things; for example, rather than a whole bouquet, he'd prefer a singular flower."

hyunjin scrunched his nose. "that's weird, man. all of the girls i've been with in the past told me bigger is better. but now i've gotta do the exact opposite?" he ran a hand through his hair. "the things i do for love. insane."

minho snorted like he found part of his speech amusing. chan was about to question him when his phone buzzed in his pocket.  
  


 ** _fatass:_**  
😢☔️💦🥵💧🌊🤧  
  


 _what the heck is that supposed to mean?_  chan thought, sliding his phone back in his pocket. jisung (who he'd named "fatass" in his phone since he loved to eat) was known for sending him random things at the oddest times, so eventually, he learned to stop replying to him when he did. however, his phone buzzed again, and he sighed.  _what does he want?_  
  


**_fatass:_ **   
**look outside dumbo**   
  


chan glanced out the window and was surprised to find that it was raining buckets— almost enough to qualify as a storm.  _well, that explains the weird emoticons._  he groaned internally. he and his friends had planned an epic beach day for the four of them, but now it seemed that they'd have to cancel.  _man, this sucks._  
  


**_chan:_ **   
**damn**   
**what do we do now?**

**_fatass:_**  
 **felix wanted to see a**  
 **movie so we going** ✈️  
 **tmt rn**

**_chan:_ **   
**alright**   
**i'll be there in a bit**

**_fatass:_ **   
**you'd bettdjdnf ka**

**_chan:_ **   
**what**   
  


it was then that his phone buzzed once more, signaling that another person had texted him.  _damn, i'm popular today._  
  


**_bitchass:_ **   
**the rain made sung's**   
**phone defective so he**   
**told me to tell you**   
**"you'd better"**

**_chan:_ **   
**thanks bitchass**

**_bitchass:_ **   
**yw gay boy**

**_chan:_ **   
**seungmin you're no het**   
**either so don't even**   
  


_well, i guess it's time to depart._ chan's chair scraped against the tiled floor as he stood up, the eyes of the bikers following his movements. "my friends have made last-minute plans to go to the movies, so i've got to head out. thanks for letting me join you guys!" he gave them a little wave, receiving nods and a pout in return.

"you're going already?" jeongin asked, and the look he gave chan was almost enough to make him sit back down. but the surfer knew very well what would happen if he wasn't around to keep an eye on his troublemaking mates, so he held fast against jeongin's pleading eyes and ruffled his hair.

"sorry, jeongin. i can't trust my friends on their own. you're always welcome to come if you'd like."

before jeongin could open his mouth, changbin slammed his hand on the table. "no way! i.n. is staying with us, and that's  _final_." he glared daggers at chan, who gulped.

"well, i mean, you guys can come too," he offered. just then, a feeling of déjà vu settled upon his shoulders.  _why do i feel like we've been here before?_ then he remembered the incident two weeks prior, where he had invited the bikers to go to the beach with him and his friends.  _oh shit. does that mean that something bad is gonna happen again? are we just going in circles here? maybe inviting them wasn't such a good idea after all._ but after seeing jeongin nodding enthusiastically, chan's desire for him to come multiplied tenfold.  _screw it. i need to find a way to convince them all so that jeongin can go._

"hyunjin," he started, "if you come with us, i'll get you a seat next to seungmin."

"deal!"  _well, that was easy._

there was a slight pause before changbin sighed. "well, the only one that can keep hyunjin out of trouble is me, so i guess i'll go, too." he sounded so reluctant that chan almost felt guilty, but he was determined to not let his plan fail.

 _one left._ minho had gone back to reading his book, seemingly disinterested in their conversation. "minho?"

the man was silent for such a long time that chan almost thought that he hadn't heard him. the only thing that gave him away was when his eyes flitted away from his book to a spot on the table, showing that he was giving thought to the surfer's words. finally, he spoke. "...i want to choose the movie."

chan smiled. "as long as it's not the  _titanic_  again," he joked, and the corners of minho's lips twitched upwards.

"alright."

jeongin and hyunjin cheered loudly, causing chan to grin. changbin told them to shut up (which the pair ignored, choosing instead to jump up and down, chanting, "movies! movies!"). minho rolled his eyes but there was a ghost of a smile on his face, which made chan feel satisfied.  _this might actually work out really well,_  he thought.

well, at least until hyunjin said:

"wait, we don't have any money."

 


	20. BANG CHAN, THE MOVIES, AND A MATCHMAKING MASTER

**CHAN KNEW** full well the sort of face jisung would make when he arrived at tmt with the bikers in tow— more specifically, with minho in tow. needless to say, he wasn't disappointed. jisung stalked up to him and opened his mouth (probably to make a dig at him for being late), but as soon as the brunette saw minho standing behind him, his eyes widened and a strangled sound escaped his throat.

 

chan couldn't keep a smug grin from sliding itself onto his face.

 

"so, what are we gonna watch?" seungmin asked, not looking up from where he was scrolling on his phone. he hadn't taken any notice of the bikers yet— or his future boyfriend, chan added in his head with a chuckle.

 

"well, i left that up to minho to decide." as soon as those words left his mouth, seungmin's head snapped up and a look of dread crossed his face.

 

"you've got to be kidding me," he muttered as hyunjin appeared with a smirk. "no, no, no. stay back! back!" hyunjin ignored his words and continued his advances until he was leaning over the surfer, resting one of his arms above seungmin's head and successfully caging him against the cream-coloured wall. chan watched as he leaned down to whisper something in seungmin's ear; it must have been good because the next thing he knew, red was creeping up seungmin's neck. he whacked hyunjin in the chest. "idiot!" he exclaimed.

 

they would make such a cute couple, chan thought. he tugged his gaze away from the pair and to felix, who looked... _disappointed?_ a frown made its way onto chan's face. _it's faint, but it's definitely there. i've known felix for a long time, and that’s the face he makes when he’s trying to hide his disappointment. what's wrong with him?_ he was about to make his way over to the boy but paused when he saw that his freckled friend had approached changbin. chan subtly tried to scoot closer to them so he could eavesdrop, hoping to figure out the reason why one of his best friends was feeling down. he was able to tune into their conversation midway.

 

"—i gave you?" felix asked, leaving chan confused. _what did he give him? wait— felix gave changbin something?_

 

changbin shrugged. "i told you before: i hated it. so, i burned it."

 

despair took over felix's features. "what? i told you that you'd look cute in it, though!"

 

"and i told you that i don't do cute!"

 

"well..." felix pouted and crossed his arms, a sign that he was at a loss for words. "that... that's not cool, mate!" and with that, he stormed off in the direction of jisung, not waiting for a response. changbin's eyes followed him the whole way and chan swore that there was sadness swimming beneath the biker's stony gaze. the shorter male let out a sigh and rubbed his temples before turning around to stand by minho, who was mulling over the various movie posters hung up on the wall, and ran his fingers through his black hair repeatedly.

 

 _well, this is a dilemma,_ chan thought, rubbing his chin in thought. _from what i can deduce— ha, i'm like a detective— felix must have given changbin a gift and he decided to burn it in return. is that why felix is upset? why did changbin hate it so much that he had to burn it? what did felix give him? why do i feel like changbin is hiding something? god, i'm the worst detective ever._

 

unfortunately, chan had no more time to ponder over the situation at hand, as minho suddenly pointed and said:

 

"i want to watch it."

 

chan's eyebrow rose. "watch what?"

 

"it."

 

"what?"

 

" _it_."

 

"minho, just say the name of the movie. it's not that hard."

 

next to him, changbin scowled, clearly irritated. "dipshit, that is the movie title. it's that horror movie about the killer clown thing or whatever."

 

chan's mouth formed a small _o_ when he realized his mistake. "whoops. my bad. it's settled, then." he turned to the rest of the group and cupped his hands around his lips. "guys, we're gonna watch _it_ today and nobody can complain, okay?"

 

"but i hate scary movies!" felix complained. to his disdain, nobody paid him any mind as they all bought their tickets (chan paying for all of the bikers) and entered the theater, leaving him standing outside by himself. the freckled boy tugged his brown locks in a mixture of frustration and fear but ended up begrudgingly following them into _tmt_.

 

 _tmt_ was an acronym that literally stood for "the movie theaters", and its purpose was pretty self-explanatory: people came in, gorged themselves on snacks while watching a movie, and then left. but chan always loved tmt because it showed both new and old films— a luxury that, as he found out from tourists, not every theater had. every week the theater would show a different classic, and chan always tried to make time to see them. they made him nostalgic for a time he had never known and a world he had never lived in. a world where nobody was labeled as a biker or surfer; rather, they were labeled by their traits and actions. _what a great world that would be,_ he thought with a twinge of longing.

 

chan's attention focused onto the group of boys in front of him, who were deciding what they should do first: get settled in their seats or go to the concession stand. eventually, it was decided that they would force two people to grab snacks while everyone else went to find their reserved seats. _this could be my only chance!_ chan thought. he was dead-set on creating peace between the two groups so that they could all become good friends with each other, ending the longtime hatred between bikers and surfers. so, he quickly gathered up all the seating tickets before passing them out, making sure that everyone was sitting where he wanted them to. _if everything goes to plan, it should be me, jeongin, felix, changbin, jisung, minho, seungmin, and then hyunjin! this way, felix and changbin will be able to resolve their issues, jisung might finally score the man of his dreams, seungmin and hyunjin will get closer and eventually start dating, and i can spend some quality time with jeongin since i haven’t seen him in a while! it’s perfect!_

 

"i.n, you have to get us snacks since you're the youngest," changbin said, slapping a stack of bills into a frowning jeongin's palm.

 

a sly smile made its way onto jisung's face. "chan, how about you go with him? you're the oldest one here, after all."

 

felix scratched his head. "wait, aren't we going by whoever is the youn—" jisung slapped a hand over his mouth, successfully stopping whatever nonsense he was about to spew.

 

chan shrugged. in all honesty, he didn't really mind grabbing food for everyone— plus, he didn't trust his friends to not drop their popcorn or not eat everything right after they got it. the thing that really sealed the deal for him, though, was the fact that jeongin would be coming with him. after not seeing him for two weeks, all chan wanted was to soak up his presence as much as possible before they were forced to part once more. and judging by the fact that jeongin's frown had turned into a gigantic smile, he wanted the same exact thing.

 

"so, how've you been?" chan asked once the others had left.

 

jeongin laughed, and chan doubted his smile had ever been larger. "you know how i've been, chan!" he giggled. "i just texted you, like, last night."

 

"i know. it's just..." chan trailed off and his expression became softer. "actually talking to you is way different than texting. it's so much better." their eyes met, and the surfer found that he couldn't look away, no matter how hard he tried. "i missed you. a lot."

 

earnest emotion swam in jeongin's dark eyes. "oh, channie. i—"

 

"i'm sorry, but are you two lovebirds done? there's a line forming." the pair's gazed snapped forward to meet a female worker who was boredly drumming her fingers on the counter, clearly impatient. chan could feel his face heating up rapidly and out of the corner of his eye he could see that jeongin was in a similar state. "oh! i'm so sorry." he quickly placed their order and paid before stepping to the side to wait for their food.

 

silence enveloped the both of them, neither one knowing what to say after that awkward encounter. _lovebirds? that was probably the worst thing she could've said, chan thought. now everything is super awkward. we're not even in love! what could've given her that impression? well, i mean, we could make a pretty cute couple— no! bad chan! stop letting your gayer side take over! jeongin is probably straight, so it's best to hold him at a distance. i can't risk making him uncomfortable._

 

chan sighed. he was tired of getting wrapped up in his thoughts, so he decided to speak. however, at that moment, jeongin decided to as well.

 

"so—"

 

"i—"

 

both of them stared at each other with wide eyes before bursting into laughter. the awkwardness over them dissipated like smoke. "you go first," chan said with a smile once they had calmed down.

 

jeongin looked down shyly. "earlier i was gonna say that i missed you a lot, too." if he had less self control, chan would have wrapped the younger in a hug right then and there. "it's been a while since we last saw each other— too long, i think. a lot has changed."

 

 _a lot has changed._ suddenly, the surfer remembered something important that he had forgotten to say earlier. _is it weird if i tell him? how do i make it sound casual? maybe i can flirt a bit and he won't notice. no, i can't risk it. i'll just act on instinct and go with the flow._

 

"by the way—" chan looked jeongin up and down before leaning in until he was next to his ear— "you look really good with red hair."

 

alarms instantly went off in his mind. _that was way too flirty. what the fuck was i thinking. holy shit. what was that. i can't believe i just did that. what the hell—_

 

chan quickly pulled away out of embarrassment, too scared to see jeongin’s reaction, and it was at the perfect time: their food had just finished. the two of them quickly grabbed everything and made their way back to their screening room, slowly dying under the mountain of snacks in their arms. they were silent the entire trip which was absolute torture for chan because that meant that he was stuck in his head the whole time.

 

 _nice one, chan,_ he scolded himself. _you were practically checking him out back there! and what was that whole “leaning in to whisper in his ear” bullshit? that was so unnecessary! oh, god, i’m so embarrassed._ he peeked out of the corner of his eye to try and gauge jeongin’s expression, but it was unreadable (except for when he would furrow his brows whenever he had to adjust the load in his arms). suddenly, jeongin’s gaze flitted up to meet his, and chan quickly looked away, cheeks burning. _great. now he caught you staring. he probably thinks you’re a creep now. good going, chan._

 

if only he knew that wasn’t the case at all.


	21. YANG JEONGIN, THE SCREAMING BOY, AND A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

**JEONGIN DIDN'T** know what he did in his past life to deserve everything happening to him, but he sure as hell appreciated it.

 

for one, he got to go to the movies with the surfers. that was already more than enough for him, seeing as he hadn't seen them in a while. but then, when he was getting snacks with chan, the surfer had leaned down and whispered in his ear, telling him that he liked his new hair. needless to say, jeongin nearly combusted on the spot. gaining chan's approval was something he craved— although he didn't know why— so getting that compliment from him was the best thing to happen to the biker in weeks.

 

though, getting to sit next to chan during the movie was a _very_ close second.

 

jeongin thought of himself as a person that didn't get scared easily. however, felix was someone that flinched at _everything_ , which jeongin found out as he was seated next to him. so, every time felix would jump in his seat or scream, jeongin would, too. it was a knee-jerk reaction that jeongin didn't care for at _all_.

 

_this is so embarrassing,_ he thought to himself. _this movie isn't even that scary! it's felix that's making me all jumpy! now i look like a wimp!_

 

growing up in a household of bikers, jeongin was forced to participate in many lovely "family bonding" activities that varied from calming bike rides during sunset to being kicked out of the house for a night with nothing but your wits and the clothes on your back. most times, though, the bikers settled for movie marathons, and most times they chose to watch horror movies. while at first, they terrified jeongin, eventually he became used to all of it. that was why it wasn't shocking at all when minho selected it to watch; the original was something that all of the bikers enjoyed, but none of them had seen the remake, so it piqued their curiosity. unfortunately, because he was seated next to felix, jeongin spent the first half of the movie jumpy and tense rather than relaxed and having fun.

 

after another jumpscare caused felix to let out an undignified yelp (which left jeongin quivering in his seat), the biker decided to draw his legs up onto his seat and hug them tightly, figuring that it would lessen his chances of reacting whenever felix did. although it wasn't the most comfortable position, it did end up helping him quite a bit. his heart was just about to calm down completely when—

 

"are you okay?"

 

jeongin's head whipped sideways, nearly colliding with chan's face (who drew back just in time). "jesus, chan, that scared me!" he hissed. the older boy had whispered in his ear so suddenly that the biker nearly had a heart attack.

 

chan seemed to find this amusing. even in the dark of the movie theater, jeongin could see his eyes crinkle. "sorry. are you alright? you seem a bit...apprehensive."

 

_ah_. that wasn't surprising, given jeongin's curled-up state. "i'm fine," he said, slowly lowering his legs and assuming a more relaxed position in his chair. "never been better. don't worry about me."

 

he got an eyebrow lift in return. "are you sure? it's okay to admit it if you're scared, you know. i won't judge."

 

jeongin shook his head. "i told you, i'm fine. now just—"

 

it was at that very moment that felix chose to let out a high-pitched shriek, causing jeongin to let out a scream of his own. his cheeks burned when he heard chan's muffled laughter and he buried his face in his hands, thoroughly mortified. _oh my god. why do i always have to embarrass myself in front of him?_

 

he was in the middle of mentally cursing felix when his hands were suddenly tugged away from his face. he looked to the side to find chan (who was grinning widely) pulling on his wrist fervently. he sent him a questioning look, to which chan replied, "stand up."

 

"why?"

 

"just do it."

 

jeongin hesitated but obeyed, bending over slightly so that the people in the row behind him would be able to see the screen. "now what?"

 

before he could comprehend what was happening, chan swiftly pulled jeongin onto his lap where he landed with a small gasp. his legs were splayed across chan's own, one of his arms caught himself on the armrest of the chair while the other was still locked in chan's grasp, and his face (ungracefully) smacked right into the surfer's chest. "ow!"

 

"oh my god!" chan quietly exclaimed, quickly moving to adjust their position to a more comfortable one. "i'm so sorry! that went a lot better in my head."

 

despite the slight throbbing in his forehead, jeongin giggled. chan's embarrassment practically radiated off of him, and in a way, it was kind of cute. still muttering apologies, the surfer carefully moved him until the biker was nestled in between his legs, back flush against his chest.

 

jeongin's body went rigid in shock as he took in the intimacy of their position. _dear lord,_ he thought, _please don't let my dumb gay self mess this up or so help me i will jump off the nearest cliff._

 

chan let out a low chuckle. jeongin gulped, feeling the vibrations against his back. "that didn't go exactly as i planned. is your head okay?" all the boy could do was give him a nod, too afraid that his voice would give away how much he was panicking on the inside. "that's good. anyway, i didn't like seeing you so scared, so i sort of acted on impulse. when my friends feel afraid, they tend to feel better when someone hugs them, so i thought that it might be the same for you."

 

even though jeongin hadn't really been scared— rather, he was more shocked due to felix's screaming— the fact that chan took initiative to comfort him made his heart warm. it further showed him just how genuine and caring the male truly was. although his heart continued to beat at a thousand miles an hour, he felt himself relax against the older, feeling more at ease than before.

 

however, just as he did so, he felt chan tense up behind him. "wait, is this okay? am i making you uncomfortable? if i am, you can go back to your own seat. i'm so sorry, i don't know what i was thinking. i know that some people aren't too fond of skinship and we've hugged before but this is kind of on a different level—"

 

jeongin covered his mouth with his hand before he could continue rambling. keeping his eyes on the movie, he spoke, his voice wavering slightly. "i think i'll stay here for a while longer. i... i don't feel scared when i'm with you." it was the truth—chan had a very calming presence— and even though jeongin wasn't scared of horror movies at all, he could definitely appreciate the surfer's kind actions.

 

chan let out what sounded like a sigh of relief before slowly slipping his arms around jeongin's waist and resting his head next to the younger's. "good," he mumbled against his neck, "because i didn't really wanna let you go."

 

a small smile slowly crept up jeongin's face. _god, i'd pretend to be scared any day if it meant getting treated like this._

 

 

 

☀☀☀

 

 

 

"did everyone have fun?" chan asked as they all gathered outside after the movie's end. there were scattered nods and noises of approval (or, in minho's case, one slight dip of the head), although jeongin noticed that changbin looked extremely irritated. _why does he— oh._ he suddenly remembered who changbin had to sit next to the whole time: the screaming boy himself, lee felix.

 

_that reminds me..._ jeongin silently slipped over to felix's side. "hey," he whispered, "thank you so much."

 

the surfer gave him a confused look. "for what?" he asked, but jeongin merely shook his head with a grin.

 

"well..." chan checked his phone. "there's still plenty of time left in the day, and i have a few errands to run. does anyone wanna come with me?" when he got no response, he sighed. "if you guys want to buy anything, i'll cover for you."

 

multiple hands immediately shot into the air. jeongin stifled a giggle when chan rolled his eyes, clearly predicting this outcome. however, when the biker glanced at minho, he found that the older was the only one who didn't want to go.

 

"i have something important to do," he said when jeongin asked him about it. "i'll see you at home." without another word he rushed off to god-knows-where, leaving jeongin a bit confused— and a bit worried. _he's never kept anything from us before, but he seemed so secretive just then. what's going on?_

 

"okay..." chan said after minho disappeared. "well, then, let's get go—"

 

"wait!" everyone paused at jisung's sudden exclamation. "i...uh...forgot that i also had something to do. i'll catch up with you guys later, i promise!" before anyone could question him, he ran in the direction that minho left in, yelling, "be back soon!"

 

"that was weird," hyunjin commented; changbin and jeongin hummed in agreement. the redhead noticed the surfers give each other a look, although he ultimately decided not to think about it. "well, no use wondering about it. let's go already!"

 

"jesus, are you that excited to run errands?" seungmin muttered, causing hyunjin to laugh and slide an arm around his shoulder.

 

"nope. i'm more excited to blow chan's wallet."

 

"hey!"


	22. YANG JEONGIN, THE CHALLENGE, AND SOME GROCERY STORE MAYHEM

**ONE THING**  you should never do is put a group of bikers and a group of surfers together in a grocery store...unless you want absolute chaos.

"alright," chan announced when they arrived at n/s supermarket (or more professionally known as "north-south supermarket), "i need to pop in here for a minute to grab some groceries because  _some_  people—" he shot a pointed glare at felix and seungmin— "like to sneak into my house and steal my food without asking. it might take a while, so i'm really sorry about that."

multiple groans were heard in response. "we can help you—" jeongin began, but was promptly smacked on the back of the head.

"grocery shopping is  _lame,"_  hyunjin hissed. "don't volunteer us for that shit!"

seungmin nudged felix with his shoulder. "he's just saying that because he probably sucks at shopping," he whispered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

hyunjin whipped his head towards seungmin. "i do not!" he protested. "i'll have you know that i shop a billion times more than anyone else in existence! i'm great at shopping!"

"oh yeah?" seungmin countered. "if you're so good at it, why don't you prove it? i bet that my friends and i could easily find everything on chan's grocery list much faster than you guys."

"bring it on, princess!"

jeongin didn't miss the wink seungmin sent towards chan, the brunette mouthing "you're welcome". jeongin bit back a giggle. one thing bikers could never back down from was a challenge and seungmin used that to his advantage by tricking his friends into having a grocery-shopping competition.  _he's so sly,_  the biker thought as he was dragged by changbin into the store.  _i like it!_

 

☀☀☀

 

"there are six things on each list," chan announced. everyone was lined up at the front of the store, anxiously waiting for the signal that would allow them to begin. "anything goes as long as everyone on your team successfully checks out all of your groceries and makes it back to the entrance together. there are no rules. sabotages are legal. pretty much everything is allowed unless it'll get us kicked out of the market. that means no guacamole bombs, felix."

felix dejectedly slid an avocado back into the pocket of his cargo pants.

"is everyone ready?" chan asked. jeongin nodded along with the rest of the boys, his heart pounding in his chest. excitement pumped through his bloodstream. "well then...  _go!"_

immediately everyone took off, sprinting in all different directions. jeongin made a beeline towards the fresh produce, eyes zeroing in on the plump red tomatoes that he had glimpsed at their starting point earlier. before the competition, hyunjin (who deemed himself the "team captain") had given jeongin the task of getting tomatoes and a box of popcorn for their group while he would get oranges and butter. that left changbin with a can of beans and a chunk of frozen beef.

hearing footsteps behind him, jeongin turned his head to see felix hot on his tail, a dangerous grin on his face. "i'm coming for you!" he growled, and with his deep voice, he sounded almost demonic. jeongin gasped and ran faster, frantically weaving in between stacks of fruits and vegetables in an attempt to throw the surfer off of his trail. surprisingly enough, felix was quite agile and kept up with jeongin with ease, causing the younger boy to panic.  _he's so fast!_

they soon neared the tomato stand, and jeongin felt hope swell within his chest. he was so close to his goal that he could nearly touch it. but as soon as he reached out to grab one, a banana narrowly missed his hand and he retracted it quickly.

"you're not getting those on my watch!" felix declared from behind him, arms filled with bananas that he waved menacingly. the way he did it was almost comical; however, when another banana zipped past his head, jeongin realized that it was anything but. more and more bananas were launched at him and he dodged them with a yelp, resorting to taking cover behind an onion stand.

 _how do i get myself out of this situation?_  jeongin thought. the longer he hid, the more likely that his group would lose the competition, and he didn't want to be the reason that they failed. plus, felix was getting closer and closer to his hiding spot; he could tell by the way that felix's voice was slowly growing in volume. "where are you, little fox?" he called, sending shivers down jeongin's spine.

the biker needed a diversion, and fast. however, his panic wasn't doing anything to help him think, so he had no idea what to do.  _should i throw onions at him? no, he might get hurt. should i just run? but then i won't be able to get the tomatoes! what should i do?_

jeongin's heart rate picked up when he saw felix's shadow fall beside him. he was right around the corner of the onion stand, looking around for the biker like a panther on the prowl.  _this is it,_  jeongin thought in despair as the surfer made a move to round the corner.  _i'm going to be caught and banana-ed!_

"ha! found—" suddenly there was a shriek and a loud  _thunk_  as if someone had fallen. the sound of onions falling filled jeongin's ears and his eyes widened when he realized that the stand was coming down. he scrambled away from the stand where onions streamed down the sides and onto felix's body, which was sprawled on the ground. a banana peel lay by his feet.

"rats! fooled by my own creation!" felix cried as the onions buried him completely.

jeongin stared at the scene in silence for a while before thanking god and rushing to fill a bag of tomatoes. he had no idea how he had gotten that lucky—or what had really happened at all— but all he knew was that somehow, someway, he had gotten the diversion he had hoped for, and he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away.

after successfully getting what he went there for, jeongin hurriedly searched the numerous aisles in the market for one that held the popcorn. his face brightened when his gaze landed on an aisle with a gigantic sign hanging over it labeled "movie snacks"; however, his breath hitched in his throat when he saw someone standing in the middle of it.

"hello, jeongin," chan said with one of his trademarked dimpled grins. but there was something different about it, jeongin realized. the look in his eyes didn't hold the softness that he had become accustomed to— instead, there was something a bit darker in them. but rather than it frightening him, jeongin felt a rush of adrenaline surge through him. he was excited.

"hi chan," jeongin responded. he didn't miss the way the surfer's eyes followed him as he slowly made his way forward. "what're you doing here?"

chan crossed his arms as he leaned against one of the shelves, the grin never leaving his face. "well," he said, "i got my things already, and i thought that it might be a good idea to scope out the competition. i knew that someone would be looking for popcorn, so i decided to wait and see who it was. and it turned out to be you."

"so you're here to stop me?" jeongin asked, gaze flickering around as he spoke to try and find where the popcorn was located. when he looked back at chan, the male's face turned smug, and it was then that jeongin saw that what he was searching for was being blocked by his body. the only thing standing between him and his second item was bang chan himself.

"i think i already have," chan said, and jeongin realized that this was going to be more difficult than he originally thought.

chan was one of those people that could make a soft gay like jeongin instantly melt. couple his genuine personality with his handsome features and it was like jeongin had found everything he could ever ask for in a guy. every time he was around him, jeongin felt his heart beat just a little faster and funny feeling would erupt in the pit of his stomach. he wasn't dumb; he knew what those signs meant, but he didn't want to say it aloud in fear of it being true. those feelings would get him in trouble in more ways than one. the position he was in now was an example of that fact.  _what do you do when the thing that you want is in the way of the thing that you need?_

"chan, please," jeongin pleaded, stepping closer to him in hopes of finding a way around him. "you don't have to do this. you know that we'll lose anyway, so why not just be nice and give me what i need?"

chan cocked an eyebrow. "what you  _need?_  no, that popcorn is what you  _want_. what you need is..." he faltered, a sign that the confident front he had put up earlier was merely a façade. this gave jeongin hope.

"what i need is what?" he asked. he had no idea where he was going with this, but if it was able to throw chan off guard, he would take it for all its worth.

sadly, it didn't do much. chan simply shook his head ever so slightly before clearing his throat. "never mind. anyway, you're not getting this popcorn." he picked one of the boxes up and tossed it from hand to hand in an almost taunting fashion. "there's absolutely nothing you can do to get it. it's over, jeongin."

jeongin paused.  _there's nothing i can do...but there's something i can say._

before the competition, hyunjin left changbin to intimidate the surfers' team while he pulled jeongin to the side. "i.n," he whispered, "i have an important piece of advice to give you." jeongin was all ears. "i can tell that you have a soft spot for chan—" at this, pink tinted the younger's cheeks— "but he also has one for you. so, if you ever encounter him at any time during this thing, you've gotta take advantage of that."

"but what do i do?" jeongin asked. hyunjin chuckled deviously.

"you've got to flirt."

 _"what?"_  hyunjin slapped a hand over the shocked boy's mouth when he exclaimed a little too loudly.

"quiet!" he hissed. "it's the only way. i know that going down the touchy-touchy route isn't really your thing, so i've devised a number of pick-up lines that i need you to memorize in case the time comes." he then rattled off a list of phrases so quickly that jeongin had a hard time remembering even one of them. "got it? good," the brunette said without waiting for a response. "now, go out there and make me proud!"

jeongin didn't think he'd have to take hyunjin's advice, but it seemed to be the only way. if his friend was right about chan's soft spot for him (which he seriously doubted) then his idea could work. if not, things would just be  _super_  awkward and jeongin would probably have to bury himself under a pile of onions like felix.

he took a deep breath before approaching chan. his palms were sweating like crazy, and as he stood before the older, a questioning look appeared on his face.

"hey, don't think that you—" chan froze when one of jeongin's hands went to his chest and the other to his chin, the biker's pale fingers gently dipping his head down until his lips were right next to the older's ear. jeongin swallowed dryly.  _no backing out now._

"channie," he whispered, wondering for a brief moment if the loud heartbeats he was hearing were his or chan's— "if you give it to me, this popcorn won't be the only thing that you'll be popping tonight."

instantly chan's jaw dropped to the floor, as did the box of popcorn in his hand. jeongin quickly scooped it up and ran, not bothering to look back at the stunned boy in the movie snacks aisle who had gone stock-still (and who would be ridiculed by his friends for it later on). all the redhead knew was that he would never be able to look chan in the eye ever again.

_holy shit. i can't believe that just happened._


	23. BANG CHAN, SOME CLOSURE, AND A DREAM COME TRUE

**THE SURFERS** ended up winning the competition, much to hyunjin's disappointment. it was a close battle, though: changbin (while trying to reach a can of beans that happened to be on the top shelf) accidentally made a sea of cans fall off of their shelves and rush out into the rest of the store, causing felix (who had just gotten out of his onion prison) to stumble and fall, slowing his already slow progress. seungmin had also run into some trouble as well when he was cornered by hyunjin in the dairy section, who refused to let him leave. the surfer had a gallon of milk in hand and decided that the best thing to do would be to dump it all over hyunjin (an act he would later claim to be "self-defense"), effectively distracting the biker and allowing him to make a quick escape. it was also seungmin who, with a milk-covered hand, slapped chan out of his jeongin-induced stupor and led their team to the checkout line, claiming their victory.

but winning was the last thing on chan's mind. all he could think about was what jeongin had said to him in the movie snacks aisle.

chan has just intended to play around with him a little bit and maybe do some harmless flirting disguised as teasing. after what had happened at the theater, he wanted to see how far he could push things without making his intentions too obvious. so, he had subtly eavesdropped on the bikers when they were giving out their food assignments and made sure to wait for jeongin by the popcorn.

he was anticipating a blushing, fumbling jeongin who would stumble over his words embarrassedly.

what he got was the exact opposite.

 _this popcorn won't be the only thing you'll— no! bad chan! do not think of such impurities!_ he ran a hand through his silver locks, thoroughly distressed.  _i need to find jeongin and get to the bottom of this. hopefully, he wasn't being serious. if he was... no, we're not gonna think about that._

"you good, mate?" a hand on chan's shoulder startled him out of his thoughts. when he turned, a familiar freckled face was staring back at him.

"...you smell like onions," chan observed, choosing to ignore the question. felix scrunched up his nose and sniffed his white t-shirt.

"damn, i do. it sucks that i slipped on a banana peel and ended up knocking over the entire onion stand, or else i totally would've caught jeongin!" at the mention of jeongin's name chan visibly stiffened. felix, ever-so observant of the mood patterns of his friends, took notice. "wait, did something happen between you and jeongin? is that why you're being weird?"

"no! well... no!"

"are you sure? that was a suspicious 'no'. hey, jeongin, come over here!"

 _wait! i'm not mentally prepared!_  chan thought in panic as jeongin approached them, looking as casual as ever.  _he looks so calm. am i the only one out of the two of us worrying about this? am i overthinking things?_

"what's up?" the redhead asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. chan suddenly remembered the warmth of his hand upon his chest and the feeling of his fingers gently tugging his head downwards.

"oh, nothing much. chan's just being super weird. i think it might have something to do with you." chan shot his freckled friend a sharp glare that said  _shut up right now before i castrate you,_  but felix kept going. "i think you should talk to him before his weirdness rubs off on the rest of us. have fun!" and with that, felix skipped away, leaving the pair alone in an awkward silence.

jeongin was the first to break it. "are you okay, chan? is something wrong?" his voice held nothing but innocence and purity and chan was dumbfounded.  _how can he speak as if he didn't just try a pick-up line on me? and an_ ** _extremely_** _suggestive one, too!_

"no! nothing's wrong. it's just..." he hesitated. "did you...actually mean what you said to me earlier? about...you know...popping..."

jeongin's previously calm face melted into a look of absolute mortification. "oh my god!" he exclaimed. "i'm so sorry! hyunjin gave me a list of pick-up lines to use to throw people off their guard if they tried to get in my way, so i decided to use one on you. don't worry— i didn't mean it at all."

chan breathed a sigh of relief and tried to ignore the slight pang in his heart. "that makes more sense. i'd never taken you as the type to say that kind of stuff, so i was super surprised when you did." he chuckled nervously. "i guess hyunjin was right: it  _did_  catch me pretty off-guard."

jeongin beamed. "that was the goal!"

taking a look at the younger's bright, innocent smile, chan couldn't help but gulp. even though it was clear that jeongin didn't mean what he had said, his words continued to swirl around in chan's mind in a flurry of dark thoughts. that combined with the purity practically radiating off of jeongin made the surfer's head spin.

 _fuck. he's going to be the death of me._  
  


☀☀☀  
  
  


"wait,  _what?"_

"i said," seungmin laughed over the phone, "while you and jeongin were talking, the rest of us stole your truck and left! well, felix and i stole your truck. the bikers are behind us on their motorcycles."

chan rubbed his temples. "and what possessed you to think that was a good idea?"

"nothing!" seungmin wheezed. it was clear he found the situation hilarious. "relax, chan. we took all the groceries with us and we'll drop them off at your house. we'll put them away for you, too, since you're probably not gonna get home for a  _long_  time."

chan pinched the bridge of his nose.  _god, why am i even friends with them?_  "you guys are idiots. how am i supposed to get home?"

"you'll figure it out!" felix hollered in the background as the pair erupted into even more laughter. chan decided that they would be of no more use to him so he ended the call and stuffed his phone into his pocket with a huff.

"what's wrong?" jeongin asked. "where'd everybody go?"

"apparently they decided that it would be funny to steal my truck and take off." chan ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of what to do. "i guess i'll have to walk home."

jeongin was quiet for a moment before speaking. "um..." chan's gaze flickered over to him questioningly. "do you maybe...want me to...uh...drive you home on my bike?"

it took all of chan's willpower to not gasp in surprise. riding on a motorcycle had always been his dream— in fact, it's what brought him and jeongin together— but he had always dismissed it, thinking that it was impossible. as much as he tried to ignore the social standards around him, the fact of the matter was that he was a surfer. not a biker. surfers didn't ride bikes— they rode waves. surfers didn't dress in leather jackets— they dressed in swimsuits. never in his life did chan ever think that it would be a possibility that he'd even go  _near_  a motorcycle.

but, like always, jeongin seemed to fill his life with surprises.

"are you sure? i don't want to accidentally throw you off balance or something." although internally chan wanted to jump for joy— seriously, what were the odds that he would ever ride a motorcycle again?— he didn't want to seem too eager at jeongin's proposal and risk looking uncool.

jeongin shook his head profusely. "trust me," he said, "you'll be perfectly fine."

it took chan three tries to be able to get on the bike. the first time, he nearly knocked it over in his enthusiastic state. the second time, chan accidentally fell off when he tried to coolly slide on like he'd seen the other bikers do. after that, jeongin insisted on holding onto him so that he would be able to get on successfully (which he did).

"are you ready?" jeongin's voice was slightly muffled through the helmet that jeongin insisted chan wear. the surfer nodded, excitement rushing through his veins.  _this is it! my dream is finally coming true!_ he felt nothing but excitement, the rumble of the engine beneath him only adding to that. he wasn't afraid. he wasn't scared. in fact, he was anything but.

however, as soon as they took off, chan felt like he was going to die.

 _"shit!"_  he yelled, his body lurching forward and hitting jeongin's back. he quickly searched for something— anything— to hold onto so that he wouldn't become roadkill. the first thing he grabbed was jeongin's leather jacket so he held on with a death grip, screaming the whole time.

in the mirror, he could see jeongin glance at him with a worried expression.  _"chan! are you okay?"_  he yelled.

chan shook his head rapidly.

_"are you gonna fall?"_

chan nodded.

 _"hold on!"_  jeongin took one hand off of the handlebars ( _oh, we're really gonna die now,_ chan thought) and swiftly tugged chan's arms around his waist.  _"is that better?"_

as if by magic, chan suddenly felt at ease. his chest was flush to jeongin's back, a position that was familiar to the pair, having done the same thing in the theater. except for the fact that this time it was chan who needed to be stabilized and comforted, not jeongin. their roles had reversed completely, yet for some reason, chan didn't mind at all.

 _"chan?"_  the surfer's head snapped up. he'd been unknowingly burying his face in jeongin's back.  _"are you okay now?"_ chan nodded.  _more than okay, actually._ through the mirror, he saw jeongin smile as he accelerated further, the wind whipping through his red hair maniacally. chan peeked out to the side and nearly gasped when he saw how quickly the landscape rushed past them. everything blurred together in a jumbled masterpiece that he couldn't take his eyes off of. they passed a cluster of homes. then they were zooming past the beach. everything happened so quickly that chan had trouble keeping up, but it didn't bother him. he just wanted to keep watching it forever.

_can it be like this forever?_

 


	24. SPECIAL FOUR - HAN JISUNG, THE BOY WITH THE CATS, AND GETTING CAUGHT

**JISUNG DIDN'T**  know what came over him at that moment. all he knew was that as soon as minho left, every instinct in his body was telling him to go after him. so, he mumbled out some stupid excuse to his friends before booking it in the direction minho went in, praying to god that he would be able to catch up to his longtime crush.

jisung soon caught a glimpse of a familiar leather jacket rounding a corner and he picked up the pace. it seemed that minho was also in a hurry— he was walking rather briskly and often glanced side to side in an anxious manner. his face gave nothing away, though, so any uneasiness he might have been feeling was perfectly hidden under a calm and collected mask.

as he tailed the biker, jisung found that the landscape was becoming more and more familiar to him, as if he had walked it a hundred times. then it hit him: minho was going to the alleyway that he cared for the kittens in!  _that makes this so much easier,_  he thought relievedly, choosing to slow down and catch his breath. he couldn't even count the number of times he had come to this location in hopes that minho would be there. if he was, he would hide behind the corner and try his best to snap pictures on his polaroid (he and seungmin often got into debates about which camera was better: digital or polaroid); if not, he would take some time to visit the kittens, giving them scraps of food and, once, a little toy. the animals had grown accustomed to his presence, although jisung had seen firsthand how much they adored minho in comparison.

he couldn't blame them. he was under minho's spell, too.

the sound of gravel crunching underfoot shook him out of his thoughts.  _who's making that sound?_  he mused to himself, only to freeze in fright when he realized that it was  _he_  who was being so loud. the surfer cursed under his breath when he looked up and saw that the alleyway was  _right there._

 _damn,_  he thought,  _i came here intending to be as quiet as a ninja, but instead, i ended up being as loud as a whole-ass circus._

he didn't know if minho had heard him or not— frankly, he'd be surprised if he  _hadn't_ — so jisung stayed still for a few seconds, breath held, heart thumping wildly in his chest. when minho didn't come into sight, he exhaled and tiptoed to the corner of the alley before poking his head around the corner. what he saw made him scream in fright.

standing there was minho, arms crossed, clearly waiting expectantly. as soon as he saw jisung, his eyes widened slightly. "you!"

this was it. jisung was going to end his life right there, right then. a load of emotions crashed down on him at once: humiliation, embarrassment, mortification, horror, and many others that he couldn't care to think about. all he cared about was the fact that his crush had just caught him in the act of kind of-sort of stalking him, which was his greatest fear come true.

"i—" he started, but minho cut him off.

"for the past two years, i had the strangest feeling that somebody was following me around." his tone was a mixture of anger and bafflement. "i thought i was going crazy, but then i would notice little things that weren't normal. small pieces of cat food left by someone other than me. a tiny toy that i never gave them. my orange sweater, somehow missing. that's how i knew." 

with every remark, jisung felt like he was being punched in the gut.  _how could i have been so stupid?_  he thought.  _all this time i thought i was being careful when in reality i was leaving him a trail of breadcrumbs to find._

"so today," he continued, "i decided i would try and find who had been following me around. i figured it wouldn't be too hard— after all, whoever it was wasn't exactly the quietest person in the world— but i never would've guessed it was one of jeongin's surfer friends." his sour expression was like a knife to jisung's heart. "i always knew your kind was terrible. i was willing to give you and your friends a chance for jeongin's sake, but after finding out that one of you is a fucking creep, there's no way in  _hell_  i'll make that mistake again."

it was at that moment that jisung's heart shattered completely. he couldn't bring himself to even blink when minho brushed past him, leaving him alone in the alleyway. he stood there, wide-eyed, as everything that had just happened fully processed in his brain, and when it finally did, he crumpled to the ground. he brought his knees to his chest and pressed his palms to his eyes until they hurt, unwilling to let the tears beginning to form slip past his hands. he dug his teeth into his bottom lip so that he wouldn't make a sound, but when it began to ache, he let a quiet sob escape.

how could he have been so stupid? why had he thought following minho was a good idea from the start? he had chosen to ignore to what he was, which was a creep and a stalker, and instead focused on what he was doing, which was (in his eyes) simply taking pictures of someone he admired. 

 _idiot. this is what you get for being a lovestruck fool and believing in fate._  he pressed his lips together tightly, trying to force his whimpers down.  _what did you think would happen, anyway? he wouldn't find out and you'd date him and get married and live happily ever after? real-life doesn't work that way. it's a shame you had to find out like this._

when he had calmed down enough, jisung stood up and wiped his face, praying that he didn't look like he had just had a complete meltdown. when he opened his front camera, he realized that his eyes were completely red, making him look more like a stoner than someone who had just gotten their heart crushed.  _well, what's worse? a stoner or a fucking stalker?_  he thought with a small self-deprecating smile.  _trick question. they'd both make you look bad in minho's eyes._  

even just thinking about him made jisung want to cry, so he tried his best to distract himself by blasting music from his phone. he didn't care if people looked at him oddly when he passed by or if he was being a nuisance. he just wanted to feel better.

jisung knew exactly where to go.

 

☀☀☀

 

woojin was dealing with an angry customer when the door to jyp café burst open. when he looked up and saw the expression on jisung's face, he immediately dropped his pad of paper and rushed to his friend's side. "hey! where are you going?" the customer shouted, to which woojin waved him off.

"find someone that cares about your sugar allergy to help you!" he yelled back before turning to jisung. "something tells me you need a lot of apple juice right now."

jisung nodded. "are you busy?"

woojin glanced at the angry customer. "no."

"good, because you're gonna be here for a while."


End file.
